CIVIL -RNMEN7 



UNITED STATES and the 

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Federal and State 
Government 



AN ELEMENTARY TREATISE 
ON THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES AND 
THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 



BY 

DONALD L. MORRILL, 

Of the Chicago Bar. 



CHICAGO 
SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY 

1901 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS. 

Two Ccwes Received 

MAY 22 1901 

Copyright entry 

CLASSC^ **s. Na. 

COPY 3. 



^ 6 \ 



** 



Copyright, 1901, by Donald L. Morrill. 



PRESS OF 

THE HENRY O. SHEPARD CO. 

CHICAGO. 



PREFACE. 

In offering this volume to the public, the author considers 
it his duty to explain briefly the scope of the work and 
the method employed in treating the subject. Such a state- 
ment is particularly necessary in the case of an elementary 
text-book on civil government, for the increased attention 
which has been given in recent years to that study has 
caused the publication of numerous text-books, possessing 
many meritorious features. Therefore, some reason 
should be given for writing upon a subject which has been 
discussed so often by other authors. 

The first text-books upon the subject dealt with the Fed- 
eral government solely, and the study of civics was limited 
to a consideration of the Constitution and some of the laws 
of the United States Government. Later, it was found that, 
however useful and necessary a knowledge of the national 
government may be, something more is needed to prepare 
the student for the duties of citizenship, and that it is equally 
important that he should understand the systems of local 
and State government under which the citizen lives and 
which regulate most of his daily transactions. 

Recognizing this demand, other books were written, 
whose contents embraced a consideration of the different 

(v.) 



vi FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT 

forms of government to which the individual is subjected 
from infancy to manhood, including family, school, church, 
social, municipal, State and national government. In the 
opinion of competent critics, writers of these books have 
gone to extremes in their efforts to observe the pedagogic 
precept of commencing instruction upon any subject with 
those features which are nearest to the pupil. Under this 
theory, in many text-books the study of civics is commenced 
with chapters upon domestic and social topics, which have 
no place in a work devoted to the study of civil govern- 
ment. 

This book is designed for use by students who are suffi- 
ciently advanced to take up the study of United States his- 
tory. It should be used in the higher grades of the elemen- 
tary school, or the first year of the high school, or both, 
according to the course of study pursued. It is divided 
into two parts ; the first is devoted to a study of the Federal 
government and political system ; the second to the State 
government and local institutions of Michigan. 

In the first part of the book, it has been the author's aim 
to furnish aid to students commencing the study of our 
national political institutions. Therefore, definite and spe- 
cific information is given as to the essential features of the 
Federal system, derived from sources not readily accessible 
to either teacher or pupil. No attempt has been made to 
analyze the provisions of the Federal Constitution, or to 
present controversies as to its construction, but there has 
been an endeavor to show the actual working of our na- 
tional government, and to describe the same in a manner 
which can be comprehended by beginners. 

The second part of the book is intended as a practical 
guide to the student upon important matters which are 
regulated by the local and State government. Other books 



PREFACE vii 

have been written with the same object in view, but have 
failed to some extent in their purpose, because they have 
not been limited to a consideration of the political institu- 
tions of a single State, or of a group of States having simi- 
lar governmental systems, but have treated these subjects 
in a general way only, carefully avoiding those details 
which constitute the distinguishing features of the govern- 
ment of particular States or localities. 

It is apparent that, owing to the difference between the 
constitutional and statutory provisions of the various States 
of the Union concerning the details of local government, 
all these different systems cannot be thoroughly treated 
within the limits of an elementary text-book, except in a 
general way. Hence, the most successful teachers of civics 
have been those who have been able to supplement the 
material contained in the text-book with information con- 
cerning the systems of municipal and State government 
under which the pupils live. This book has been prepared 
for use in the schools of Michigan and is limited in its dis- 
cussion of local governmental affairs to that State alone. 

It is possible that the order followed in the treatment of 
the various topics discussed may be the subject of criticism 
by those who believe that the study of local government 
should precede that of the State or Nation, and, conse- 
quently, that such should be the order of exposition. If the 
book had been written for the use of students in Massachu- 
setts, Virginia, or any other State whose local institutions 
were in existence before the formation of the Union, it 
would be correct, logically and historically, to begin with 
the study of the local system, and follow with the State 
and national institutions. The case is different, however, 
when dealing with the government of Michigan, which 
owes its existence to acts of the Federal Government, and 



Vin FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT 

the development of whose local institutions did not con- 
tribute to the formation of the national system. 

For these reasons, it has seemed best to divide the sub- 
ject into two parts, one showing the origin and develop- 
ment of our national government, and the other explaining 
the formation of our State government, giving due consid- 
eration to the local influences which shaped its structure, 
together with a brief but comprehensive statement of the 
various governmental agencies which have been created by 
the State. 

While it has been the purpose to make one chapter follow 
another in logical sequence, yet each topic is treated in a 
manner sufficiently independent to permit the use of the 
book as a guide in case it is desired to study the different 
forms of government in an order different from that fol- 
lowed in the text. 

If this volume proves to be of assistance to those who are 
eager to know the duties of citizenship, and a help to teach- 
ers in presenting to their pupils correct information as to 
the principles upon which our government is based, and the 
method by which they are applied in all departments, local, 
State and national, the author will feel that his labors have 
been amply rewarded. 

Chicago, February i, 1901. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 
' Government of the United States. 

CHAPTER I. pa 

Origin and Necessity of Government, 

How Governments Commenced — What Government Means 

— Laws and Their Objects — Early Forms of Government 

— Surrender of Personal Rights — The Family, Clan, and 
T r ib e — Freedom — Development of Government. 

CHAPTER II. 
Different Forms of Government, 



Definition of Civil Government — Tribal Government — Ab- 
solute Monarchy — Oligarchy — Ancient Republics — Con- 
stitutional or Limited Monarchies — The Modern Republic 

— Government by Consent of the Governed — Popular 
Governments. 

CHAPTER III. 

Distinctive Features of Our Government, . . . .17 
General Application of the Principles of Popular Government 

— Government by Representation — Its Origin and Devel- 
opment — Public Office a Public Trust — Written Constitu- 
tions — Three Branches of Government, Legislative, 
Judicial, and Executive — Division of Powers between 
National, State, and Municipal Governments — Principles 
Embodied in the Declaration of Independence. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Colonial Governments, 28 

Government by Charter — Distinction between Charter and 
Constitution — Origin of Charter Government — Magna 
Charta — Royal Colonies — Charter Colonies — Proprietary 
Colonies — Political Status of the Colonies. 

(IX.) 



X FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT 

CHAPTER V. page. 

Formation of the American Union, 37 

Early Attempts at Union — The Albany Convention — 
Stamp Act Congress — Obnoxious Acts of Parliament — 
First Continental Congress — Second Continental Con- 
gress — The United Colonies — Articles of Confederation — 
Their Defects — Condition of the Country — The Constitu- 
tional Convention — Its Proceedings — Adoption of the 
Constitution — Madison's Journal — Ratification. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Outline of the Federal Government 49 

The Preamble — Division of Governmental Powers — Legis- 
lative Powers — Congress — Senators and Representatives 

— Their Qualifications and Election — The Executive 
Power — President and Vice-President — Presidential Suc- 
cession — Election of President and Vice-President — The 
Electoral College — Duties of the Executive — The Judi- 
cial Department — Jurisdiction of United States Courts — 
Treason. 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Powers of Congress .56 

Taxation — Different Kinds of Taxes — Borrowing Money — 
Regulation of Commerce — Interstate Commerce — Coin- 
ing Money — Different Kinds of Money — National Banks 

— Patents and Copyrights — Bankruptcy — Naturalization 

— Territorial Government — Madison's Classification of the 
Powers of Congress. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Executive Department, 69 

Scope of the Department — Powers and Duties of the Presi- 
dent — Commander - in - Chief — Opinions of Executive 
Officers — Pardons and Reprieves — Making Treaties — 
The Diplomatic Service — Presidential Appointments — 
Messages — Impeachment. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Branches of the Executive Department, . . . .78 

The President's Cabinet — Organization of the Departments 
— Appointing Power — Civil Service Law and Commis- 
sion — State Department — Treasury Department and Its 
Officers — War Department and Its Bureaus — United 
States Army — Navy — Interior — General Land Office — 
Pensions — Post Office — Justice — Agriculture — Weather 
Bureau — Labor — Fish Commission — Government Print- 
ing Office. 



CONTENTS Xt 

CHAPTER X. page. 

The Federal Judiciary, 93 

Its History — The Judicial System Outlined — The Supreme 
Court — Its Jurisdiction and Organization — District 
Courts — Circuit Courts — Circuit Court of Appeals — 
Courts of District of Columbia — Territorial Courts — 
Court of Claims. 

CHAPTER XL 

Amendments to the Constitution, 102 

Constitutional Provisions — Methods of Amending — First 
Ten Amendments — Bill of Rights — Eleventh Amend- 
ment — Chisholm vs. State of Georgia — Twelfth Amend- 
ment — Its History — Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fif- 
teenth Amendments and Reasons for Their Adoption. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Politics in a Democracy, no 

Definition of Politics — What is a Politician — Political Par- 
ties — Their Origin — Hamilton's Recommendations — Op- 
position to Them — Federalists and Republicans — Whigs 
and Democrats — Present Party Names — Committees — 
Nominating Conventions — Caucuses and Primaries. 



PART II. 
Government of Michigan. 

CHAPTER XIII. page. 
Early Government, ii£ 

Origin of Its Civil Institutions — French Settlements — 
Under English Rule — The Quebec Act — The Virginia 
Conquest — Michigan Becomes Part of the United States. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The New England Town, 128 

A Pure Democracy — Character of the Early Settlers of 
New England — Reasons Which Prompted Their Migra- 
tion — Influence of the Church in Civil Matters — The 
Town Meeting — Selectmen — Other Officers — The An- 
cient Town of Boston — The Unit of Representation. 



xii FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT 

CHAPTER XV. page. 

The Old Virginia County, . ., 136 

Its English Origin — Early English Counties — Parishes and 
Their Officers — Social Conditions in Colonial Virginia — 
Vestry Meetings — Church Wardens and Clerks — The 
County as a Political Unit — The County Court — The 
Sheriff — Contrast between the New England and Vir- 
ginia Systems. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Territorial Government of Michigan, 144 

Conflicting Claims to the Northwest Territory — Jeffer- 
son's Plan of Government — Ordinance of 1787 — Gov- 
ernment Under It — A Part of Indiana — The Territory 
of Michigan — Beginnings of Local Government — Michi- 
gan Becomes a State. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

State Government of Michigan, 153 

Constitution of 1850 — General Statement of the Powers of 
the State — The Legislative Department — Senators and 
Representatives — Their Number — Qualifications and 
Election — Forbidden Legislation — The Executive De- 
partment — Officers Composing It — The Governor and 
His Powers — Other Executive Officers — Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor — Secretary of State — Treasurer — Commissioner 
of Land Office — Auditor General — Attorney General — 
State Boards — Appointive Officers — Judicial Depart- 
ment — Supreme Court — Circuit Courts — Recorder's 
Court of Detroit — Probate Courts — Court of Media- 

. tion and Arbitration — Justices of the Peace — Circuit 
Court Commissioners — Clerks of Courts. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

County Government in Michigan, 177 

County Government in General — The County an Agency 
of the State — Constitutional Provisions — Board of Su- 
pervisors — Board of Auditors of Wayne County — 
County Clerk — Sheriff — Treasurer — Register of Deeds 
— Prosecuting Attorney — Coroners — County Sur- 
veyor — Drain Commissioner — County Agent — Notaries 
Public. 



CONTENTS xiii 

CHAPTER XIX. page. 

Township and Village Government, <..... 188 
General Scope of Township Government — Organization of 
Towns — Corporate Powers — The Town Meeting — 
Supervisor — Township Clerk — Treasurer — Constables 

Commissioner of Highways — Overseer of Highways — 

The Town Board — Comparison with New England 
Town — Organization of Villages — Village Officers — 
Trustees — Their Powers. 

CHAPTER XX. 

The Government of Cities 198 

City Government in Early Days — Origin of the Modern 
City — Guilds of the Middle Ages — Incorporation of 
Cities — Legislative Department — Aldermen — Powers of 
the City Council — Mayor — Clerk — Treasurer — Comp- 
troller — Justices of the Peace — City Attorney — City 
Marshal — Street Commissioner — Board of Public 
Works — Department of Police — Health — Fire — Public 
Libraries. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Election Laws, 215 

General Discussion of the Right of Suffrage — Citizens and 
Voters — Registration — Election Districts and Precincts — 
Inspectors of Elections — Election Commissioners — Form 
of Ballot — Instructions to Voters — Ballot Boxes — Poll- 
ing Places — Method of Voting — Counting the Votes — 
Board of Canvassers — Elections — Primaries — Voting 
Machines. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Educational System, 229 

Necessity of General Education — Constitutional Provi- 
sions — School Laws — The University of Michigan — 
Normal Schools — Superintendent of Public Instruction — 
County Commissioner and School Examiner — Township 
School Officers — School Districts — District Meetings — 
District Officers — Moderator — Director — Assessor — 
District Board — Teachers — Women as School Officers. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Taxation and Eminent Domain, ...... 239 

Importance of Questions of Taxation — Taxes Defined — 
Constitutional Provisions — Exemptions — Objects for 
which Taxes are Levied — Assessment of Taxes — Assess- 
ment Roll — Board of Review — Computing the Taxes 
— Collection of Taxes — Delinquent Taxes — Eminent Do- 
main — Compensation for Property Taken — How As- 
certained. 



xiv FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT 

CHAPTER XXIV. page. 

Rights and Duties of Citizens, 249 

Personal and Political Rights — Personal Security — Right 
of Property — Personal Liberty — Habeas Corpus — Free- 
dom of Conscience — Freedom of Speech and of the 
Press — Protection from Unjust Laws — Ex Post Facto 
Laws — Attainders — Right of Suffrage — Holding Of- 
fice — Duties — Obedience to the Law — Paying Taxes — 
Self Support — Taking Part in Public Affairs — Personal 
Responsibility. 

Appendix A — Constitution of the United States . . 259 
Appendix B — Constitution of Michigan .... 275 
Index 310 



PART I. 

Federal Government, 



CHAPTER I. 
ORIGIN AND NECESSITY OF GOVERNMENT. 

Probably the only man of whom we have any record, who 
did not feel the necessity of some form of government, was 
the children's friend, Robinson Crusoe, when he was alone 
upon his desert island before the advent of his savage vis- 
itors bringing' with them the future companion of his exile. 
So it would be in all cases if men lived alone, separate and 
apart from their fellow-beings, and had no relations with 
them of a social, civil or commercial character. But such is 
not the nature of mankind. From the earliest time recorded 
in history, men have been accustomed to seek the compan- 
ionship of their fellow-beings, and from the moment that the 
association of human beings commences, the necessity for 
some form of government appears. 

Government Defined. — Government may be defined as 
the control exercised by the supreme or sovereign power of 
the State over individuals for the benefit of all under its 
charge. This control is exercised by means of laws, and a 
law is defined by Sir William Blackstone as a rule of conduct 
commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong. 
The necessity for the existence of some supreme power in 
the State becomes apparent when we consider the results 
which would follow from allowing each individual to do or 



2 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

refrain from doing exactly as he pleases. In such a case the 
weak would have no protection from the strong and the 
individual would have no assurance of being allowed to en- 
joy the fruits of his own labor. 

Hence for the common good of all, each individual has 
been obliged to yield to the supreme power of the state some 
of the rights and prerogatives which he would possess if in 
a condition of absolute freedom, and has been bound by 
civic regulations restraining and controlling to a certain 
extent the acts of his daily life. 

Government, then, implies control and restraint of the in- 
dividual, and it should therefore be noticed that as the exac- 
tions and requirements of government increase, to that 
extent the freedom of the individual is lost. The only ab- 
solutely free person must be one who lives solitary and apart 
from his fellow-beings, who owes them no duties and re- 
ceives from them no benefits, and who roams at will, ham- 
pered only by the necessity of supplying his own wants. 
Thus the position of an absolutely free man is but little better 
than that of the friendless exile upon the desert island, the 
savage inhabitant of unexplored regions, or the wild beast 
that wanders at large through the wilderness. The over- 
ruling providence, which directs the evolution of the human 
race, never intended that man should live in a state of abso- 
lute and unrestricted freedom, and therefore instincts were 
planted in the human mind leading him to seek associations 
with his fellow-beings, thus rendering necessary the exist- 
ence of some form of government, varying in its details 
according to the condition of the people and their advance- 
ment in civilization. 

It follows that the best and most desirable form of gov- 
ernment is that which interferes least with the freedom of 
the individual, while at the same time possessing sufficient 



ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT 3 

strength to protect its citizens in their life, liberty and prop- 
erty, to command and compel obedience and to administer 
uniform justice to individuals according to their rights and 
not according to their strength or the audacity of their de- 
mands. It will be found that as mankind has advanced in 
civilization the relations of individuals to each other have 
become more varied and complex, and the restraints im- 
posed by government more numerous. 

The. Family. — The first and simplest form of govern- 
ment made necessary by the association of individuals was 
the family. With the formation of the family some portion 
of the freedom of the individual was lost and some restraint 
was placed upon his acts by reason of governmental control. 
The head and sovereign power of the family was the father, 
whose wishes all of the members were obliged to respect, 
and in return for their obedience they received his protection 
and support. As the family increased in age and numbers 
and children of the second and third generations appeared, 
the sovereign power remained vested in the head of the fam- 
ily, who would be the grandfather, or in the case of his death, 
his eldest son. 

The Clan. — In a few generations, by the growth of the 
original family and by its union with others, the ties of im- 
mediate relationship no longer bound the entire community, 
and the association of individuals became a group of fam- 
ilies, called a clan. The government of the family still con- 
tinued, but an additional and somewhat different power had 
of necessity been created, which exercised a control over 
the entire community for the common good of all. To pro- 
tect itself against the aggressions of other clans and compel 
its own members to perform their duties toward each other, 
it was found necessary to have some central authority whom 
all must obey which had the power to call upon all of the 



4 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

members of the clan to protect the individual in the enjoy- 
ment of his rights. The person selected for this important 
function was the head and leader of the clan and was called 
the chief or by some other term of equivalent meaning. It 
was his duty to prescribe the rules governing the clan in its 
intercourse with neighbors, to lead the clan in case of war, 
to take measures which would tend to keep his followers 
free from want, and to see that each of his subjects did his 
duty and observed the rights of his fellow-clansmen. 

By this association the individual lost some of his rights, 
but the benefits which he gained were greater than his 
losses, for he was no longer obliged to rely entirely upon 
his own efforts in guarding his flocks, in hunting the wild 
beasts, in erecting his dwelling, or in overcoming his ene- 
mies, but he had the support and assistance of his fellow- 
clansmen in these undertakings. For many centuries the 
only form of government known to mankind was that of the 
clan, which has been described briefly, and which answered 
all of the needs of a simple people, leading a rude and bar- 
baric life. 

The Tribe. — Later, the same impulses and conditions 
being still at work, different clans coming in contact with 
each other, led to a union in various ways, sometimes 
by the intermarriage of children of the chieftains or of the 
subjects, sometimes by the necessity of making common 
cause against an enemy, and sometimes by the interchange 
of the products of such peaceful arts as the people possessed. 
The ordinary term used to designate such a union of clans 
is tribe, whose government was in general similar to that of 
the clan, but necessarily included many additional features 
as the mass of the people increased in numbers and the tribe 
grew in power. 

The tribe, while still leading a more or less nomadic life. 



ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT 5 

began gradually to have fixed places of abode during cer- 
tain seasons of the year. This made it necessary for the 
chief to prescribe rules concerning the location and manner 
of constructing the rude huts in which the people lived. 
Man was not quite as free as he had been before, because he 
could not fix his dwelling place exactly where he pleased, 
but was compelled to respect the rights of others. If he 
coveted the horse or goat of his neighbor, he could not take 
the animal by virtue of superior strength, because such an 
infraction of private rights would not be tolerated. The 
man who was skillful in the chase was compelled to give some 
of the results of his labor to the artisan who manufactured 
his bow and arrows. Thus society became more complex, 
and the work of government became more diverse ; as man 
became more civilized, the reasons for the existence of a 
government became more numerous, and more and more of 
the daily acts of the individual came under its control. 

Freedom. — From what has been said we conclude that 
the word freedom, as used in the governmental sense, is a 
relative term only. It must not be confused with the term 
license. A free man, as the term is now used, is one who 
has certain well-defined personal rights, such as the right 
to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, subject to the 
restriction that he must recognize and respect the same 
rights existing in favor of his fellow-men. A free man must 
not be understood to mean a man who can do exactly what 
he pleases, regardless of the rights of others, but simply as 
the citizen of a state having a free and independent govern- 
ment. A nation whose government recognizes and pro- 
tects the rights of all its members, and which is independent 
of all other nations, is called a free and independent nation. 

Governmental Development. — For many generations 
the only form of government which existed was the tribal 



6 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

form, but as men became more civilized they began to live 
in villages, towns and cities, and government began to as- 
sume new aspects and covered a wider range. The chief 
became a king and exercised greater powers. He had in 
his control the life, liberty and property of his subjects. His 
will was the only law of the land, and, while he sometimes 
found it convenient and even necessary to delegate some of 
his powers to others, still he could always revoke these 
powers at will and confer them upon others or exercise them 
himself. Such a form of government is now called an abso- 
lute monarchy or a despotism. 

It was the legitimate outgrowth of the early tribal form 
of government, and, while men were rude and uncivilized, 
probably no better or different form could have been de- 
vised. The king ruled by virtue of his superior strength 
and intelligence, or by reason of his birth or in some cases 
by divine right as it was claimed, and the people obeyed be- 
cause they had not yet learned that they constituted the only 
source of the powers of the government, and that the gov- 
ernment had no just powers except such as it exercised with 
the full consent of the governed. 

It would be interesting to trace, step by step, the evolu- 
tion and growth of the various forms of government that 
have existed, commencing with the tribal, down through the 
different kinds of monarchies, oligarchies and republics of 
ancient and mediaeval times to the constitutional monarchies 
and republics, the most enlightened forms of government 
of our own times, and to show in detail how, as mankind 
advanced in civilization, the science of government has 
developed. For many centuries, governments have been 
changing and progressing in their forms and duties, from 
the time when men were simply roving hunters and herders 
of cattle until they became tillers of the soil and artisans with 



ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT 7 

fixed places of abode, and until finally they came to engage 
in all of the different branches of commerce, manufacture 
and art which pertain to modern civilized life, but the his- 
tory of these changes and developments furnishes fields for 
study and investigation which must be pursued independ- 
ently. 



CHAPTER II. 

DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT. 

It has been shown already how the tribal form of govern- 
ment originated, and that it is the earliest form of govern- 
ment known to man. It is true that the clan preceded the 
tribe and the family preceded the clan, but family govern- 
ment, as it exists to-day, cannot properly be considered in 
a work of this kind. Our study will deal only with the gov- 
ernment which controls every citizen in common with his 
fellow-citizens with reference to public matters ; in other 
words, the civil government under which we live. 

In this chapter, attention will be directed to the various 
forms of civil government, both ancient and modern, that 
the difference between our own government and others may 
be more clearly understood. 

The Tribal Form of Government. — This form of gov- 
ernment still exists in some parts of the world, but it is 
to be found only among uncivilized and uneducated people. 
The American Indians, except in cases where they have 
adopted the habits of civilized life, still live under a tribal 
form of government, but a better illustration is to be found 
among the savage inhabitants of some parts of Asia and 
Africa and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Little need be 
said concerning this form of government, as it has no writ- 
ten laws and the supreme power is vested in the chief. His 
authority is shown principally by his leadership in time of 
war and his selfish exactions in time of peace. No doubt 

(8) 



DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT 9 

the government of some tribes has been beneficial to the 
people composing them, in cases where the chief has been 
a man of unusual wisdom and actuated by benevolent mo- 
tives, but such instances have been few and governments of 
this kind now exist only among people so rude and barbaric 
that they are incapable of instituting any better system. A 
general knowledge of the tribal form of government is nec- 
essary principally to enable the student to comprehend more 
clearly the part which it has taken in the development of the 
science of government, and not because it will directly aid 
him in performing the duties of citizenship. 

It was the first step taken toward the construction of a 
civil system. It marked an era in the evolution and growth 
of governmental institutions. It fulfilled the purpose for 
which it existed until it came to be replaced by more 
efficient systems. For this reason the tribal form of gov- 
ernment deserves a place in our study, and as we progress 
attention will be given to those features of our own system 
in the growth of which tribal government has played a part. 

The Absolute Monarchy.— This term designates the 
form of government in which the absolute power of making 
and enforcing laws controlling the liberty, property and wel- 
fare of the mass of the people is vested in the monarch, who 
is called by different names. He is called the Emperor in 
China, the Shah in Persia, the Sultan in Turkey, and the 
Czar in Russia, but, by whatever name he is known, he is 
the absolute ruler of his people. The government has no 
legislature chosen by the people to make laws for their own 
good, but the only laws consist of imperial decrees or edicts, 
which must be obeyed strictly or the severest punishment 
will follow. The laws are not enforced by officers chosen 
by the people, but by officers appointed directly or indi- 
rectly by the ruler, whose aims are to administer the law as 



10 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

the monarch dictates, regardless of reason or justice toward 
the individuals whose interests are at stake. 

Under such a government a person who is accused of 
violation of the laws does not have the benefit of a full, fair 
and open trial, but his case is decided summarily by a magis- 
trate who has no object in view except to carry out the 
personal wishes of his ruler, or in many cases the offender 
is given no trial, but is hurried away to imprisonment, ban- 
ishment or death, without even knowing of what he is ac- 
cused. 

Such a form of government, no matter what may be the 
personal merits of the ruler, can exist only in countries 
where the people are kept in subjection by ignorance and 
superstition, and are made to believe that their ruler is right- 
fully entitled to everything which he sees fit to demand. 
With the spread of education and intelligence among the 
people, such a form of government is bound to lose its 
powers and be overthrown, to be replaced by some other 
system recognizing the rights of man and the equality of the 
individual before the law. 

The Oligarchy. — It sometimes happened in ancient 
times that the government of a people, instead of being 
committed to a single hereditary chief, was given to a num- 
ber of persons of equal power, constituting a governmental 
council having supreme control over the lives and property 
of the people. Such a form of government is called an 
oligarchy — that is to say, government by a few, according 
to the etymological meaning of the word. 

Such governments were generally of comparatively brief 
duration, because jealousies arose and ambitions were de- 
veloped among the persons composing the oligarchy and 
the strife thus engendered usually led to civil war and the 



DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT H 

overthrow of the government, resulting in the triumph of 
the strongest and a despotic form of government. 

Any government in which the civil power is vested in a 
limited number of persons, as in a republic where the right 
of suffrage is narrowly restricted, may properly be called an 
oligarchy, although the term, as originally used, is applied 
to such a form of government as at one time existed in 
Rome, in some of the states of Greece, and in Venice. 

The Ancient Republic. — The impression prevails 
with many that the republican form of government is of 
purely modern origin. But many centuries before this con- 
tinent was discovered, the people of Ancient Rome were 
accustomed to meet in their forum, or public meeting place, 
and there enact laws and perform all of the governmental 
functions. These meetings were called comitia. At a dif- 
ferent period, the Greeks carried on their government in 
similar public meetings, called ecclesia, which were held out 
of doors in the agora, or market place, and at a later period 
many of the Anglo-Saxon tribes decided questions of peace 
and war, levied taxes and punished criminals at public meet- 
ings in which citizens took part. 

All of these governments were republics, because in them 
the source of power was recognized as existing in the body 
of the people. They were essentially different, however, 
from our own republic, because the rights of citizenship 
and property were restricted to particular classes of the 
population, and the equality of all individuals before the law 
was not recognized. 

The principles which lie at the foundation of our own re- 
public were unknown in Ancient Greece and Rome ; these 
republics were, in fact, but little better than the form of 
government which has been described as an oligarchy. 



12 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

The Constitutional or Limited Monarchy. — The 

origin, development and growth of the constitutional or lim- 
ited monarchy, as it exists in the enlightened European 
nations of to-day, such as England, Holland, Norway and 
Sweden, has much in common with our own governmental 
history. Many political institutions which we highly prize, 
as the town meeting, and some features of representative 
government to be described hereafter, had their origin in 
the customs of the Teutonic tribes which formerly inhabited 
the shores of the North and Baltic seas, and the valley 
of the Elbe, and many of these institutions exist to-day in 
the monarchical governments just mentioned. 

To attempt to enumerate and discuss in this connection 
all of these points of resemblance between the constitutional 
monarchy of England and the government of our own re- 
public would interfere with the orderly arrangement of our 
work, and properly belongs to another branch of study ; but 
as our work progresses it will appear that in many respects 
Englishmen and Germans enjoy fully as great political free- 
dom as do the citizens of the United States of America, and 
that many of our most highly prized political institutions did 
not originate with us, but were brought across the seas by 
our ancestors to this land, where, by the general education 
of the people, they speedily received a wider application 
and more perfect development than conditions would permit 
in other countries. 

A limited or constitutional monarchy may be denned in 
general as a government whose chief ruler, whether he be 
called king or emperor, does not enjoy absolute power, 
because his rights and privileges are limited by restrictions 
placed upon them for the benefit of the people. These re- 
strictions exist in the form of laws which cannot be abro- 
gated by the ruler without a revolution ; they are so bene- 



DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT 13 

ficial and necessary to the welfare of all classes of society 
that their modification or annulment would never meet the 
approval of the people. The rights so secured to the people 
are constitutional — that is to say, they are inherent and can- 
not be taken away without the consent of the people. The 
constitutional monarchy naturally takes the place of the 
absolute form of government in those countries where the 
people have become so enlightened that they insist upon 
the right to make the laws under which they live. 

The constitutional monarchy is a link in governmental 
development between the absolute monarchy and the mod- 
ern republic. It has many features in common with the 
absolute monarchy. For instance, the sovereign holds his 
office for life, and upon his death is succeeded by his eldest 
son or daughter, or, in case he has none, by his next of kin 
in the order of succession. This right to rulership is called 
hereditary, because it exists by reason of the birth of the 
person who enjoys it, and descends from one generation to 
another. A change, or attempted change, in the order of 
succession has generally produced a revolution and has 
caused many of the bloodiest wars in history. 

The constitutional monarchy also has many features in 
common with our own republic — as, for instance, the power 
of taxation is exercised only by the representatives of the 
people and not according to the whim or caprice of the 
ruler, and the laws are enacted by chosen representatives ofr 
the people. 

The Modern Republic. — The last form of government 
to be noticed is the republican. It is the youngest in point 
of time, and it is the product of the highest intellectual de- 
velopment. In speaking of and defining the republican 
form of government, it must be understood that reference is 
had to our own republic alone, because the ancient republics 



14 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

were but little better than oligarchies, and other modern 
republics, such as France and the countries of South and 
Central America, have institutions essentially different from 
those of our own country. In fact, the only people who 
enjoy governmental rights and privileges very closely re- 
sembling our own are the Swiss. 

A republic may be defined as a nation in which the sover- 
eign power resides in the whole body of the people and is 
exercised by representatives chosen by them. The people 
are the source of all power, and no class is recognized as 
enjoying any exclusive privilege, but all have equal rights 
before the law. As characterized by President Lincoln, it 
is a government "of the people, for the people and by the 
people." 

The head of the government, called the President, does 
not hold his position by reason of his birth, as in mon- 
archies, but because he has been chosen by the whole body 
of the people. The laws which protect the people in their 
rights are made by men who have been selected by the 
people to do this work for them. It would be impossible 
for the people in even a single city to meet together to 
make laws for its government, as the meeting would be too 
large for purposes of deliberation: therefore the people 
choose representatives for the different sections of the coun- 
try, who, in the aggregate, exercise the power of the people 
to make the laws. In a republic the laws are applied to the 
transactions of daily life by courts and judges created and 
appointed in the manner which the people decide to be for 
the best interests of all, and not by judges in whose appoint- 
ment the people have had no voice, as is the case in most 
monarchical governments. 

The features which distinguish the republican form of 
government from all others are that all governmental pow- 



DIFFERENT FORMS OF GOVERNMENT 15 

ers emanate from the people, all taxes are levied, courts 
maintained, laws made, and every public institution put in 
operation by the representatives of the people, for the good 
of all the people and with their consent. A government 
has no just powers except such as it exercises with the con- 
sent of the governed. The difference between such a gov- 
ernment and an absolute monarchy or despotic form of 
government is so radical and apparent, that with a little 
reflection you can enumerate many of the points of differ- 
ence without further aid. 

Popular Government. — In concluding this chapter we 
are naturally led to consider the meaning of the term 
popular government, which is often used in describing the 
government of our own country, as well as that of other 
civilized nations. This is a general term, meaning govern- 
ment by the people, and may be applied properly to any 
government in which the people take part, either directly 
or through their representatives. 

The government of the United States and each of the 
States of the Union is a popular government, and the same 
is true to a greater or less extent of all of the modern repub- 
lics and of a limited monarchical form of government, like 
that of England. The extent to which the people may be 
allowed to participate in the functions of government must 
depend upon their education, intelligence and aptitude for 
political affairs. Consequently popular governments flour- 
ish in those countries where there is general diffusion of 
knowledge, and the inhabitants, by their education, experi- 
ence and training, are able to consider governmental ques- 
tions in an intelligent manner. 

Great advances are being made continually in the devel- 
opment of popular government, and in all of the Euro- 
pean countries, except the absolute monarchies, greater 



16 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

political powers have gradually been given to the people. 
But probably the theory of a popular government in the 
widest and fullest meaning of the term will never be fully 
realized except in the management of local affairs in com- 
paratively small communities. 



CHAPTER III. 
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF OUR GOVERNMENT 

Let us now consider some of those features of our own 
government which distinguish it from all others, the under- 
lying principles which are embodied in different ways in 
every branch of the civil government, all of which tend to 
make the government of the United States the most perfect 
example which has yet been produced of an enlightened 
form of popular government. The fact has already been 
noted that in the theory of our government the source of all 
power lies in the people who are governed, that the govern- 
ment derives all of its powers from their consent, and that 
all of the people, directly or indirectly, participate in the 
work of governing. 

This principle cannot be dwelt upon too much, because, 
unless it is fully understood and appreciated, we cannot 
comprehend our political institutions, and without a just 
comprehension of these institutions it is impossible to be a 
good citizen. It will at times be difficult to see how the 
plain, ordinary citizen, whose time is spent in attending to 
his business and providing for the wants of his family, takes 
part in the important functions of government, such as 
levying taxes, making laws and managing public institu- 
tions ; but such is the fact. 

It is apparent that in a small community, all properly 
qualified persons can and should have a direct participation 
in public matters, and the history of nations shows in many 

(17) 



18 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

cases that in the early days the people actually ruled, and 
all had a voice in the government. The difficulty has been 
that as nations grew in population and importance, it was 
no longer possible to carry on the work of government by 
a mass-meeting of the people, and consequently the people 
gradually lost their individual rights, until finally an abso- 
lute form of government was established. It has remained 
for the people of this great republic to evolve a scheme of 
government whereby the rights of the citizens have been 
preserved, and at the same time the nation has grown won- 
derfully in power and importance. 

Representative Government. — To our Anglo-Saxon 
ancestors we owe the discovery and application of a system 
which has been an effective instrumentality for enabling the 
people of this vast country to retain their individual rights 
and to take part effectively in administering the govern- 
ment. We ordinarily describe this system as government 
by representation, or representative government. By this 
device the community which has become large and pop- 
ulous is divided into districts, called by different names, 
each of which chooses by popular vote one or more persons 
to represent it in the government and to speak for the dis- 
trict in all governmental matters. 

Thus the several States composing the United States are 
represented in the national government by their senators 
and representatives in Congress, and in each of the States 
the law-making part of the government is conducted at the 
State capital by representatives chosen by the people resid- 
ing in the different sections of the State, and in the cities, 
towns, villages and school districts the same principle is 
applied. All of these arrangements will be shown in detail 
when we come to consider the different branches of the 
government under which we live, but for the present it is 



DISTINCTIVE FEATURES 19 

enough to remember that the people themselves carry on 
the government by means of representative assemblies. 

The Congress of the United States, the Legislatures of 
the various States, the City Councils of the different cities, 
all are representative assemblies, because they are composed 
of delegates elected by the people. 

History of Government by Representation. — The 
principle of government by representation came to us 
from England where it had been in use, more or less ex- 
tensively, since the earliest days of English history, but it 
cannot be said to have originated in England, as traces of 
such a system have been found in the fragmentary history 
of the Anglo-Saxon tribes, to whom reference has already 
been made as being the originators of some of our political 
institutions. 

Historians generally have recognized the Germanic origin 
of this institution, and that its introduction into England 
was due to its existence among the Anglo-Saxon tribes 
who invaded England during the fifth century. A distin- 
guished English historian, in describing the civil organiza- 
tion of these tribes, says : 

"But the peculiar shape which its civil organization 
assumed was determined by a principle familiar to the Ger- 
manic races and destined to exercise a vast influence on the 
future of mankind. This was the principle of representa- 
tion. The four or ten villagers who followed the reeve of 
each township to the general muster of the hundred were 
held to represent the whole body of the township from 
whence they came. Their voice was its voice, their doing 
its doing, their pledge its pledge."* 

Therefore it is safe to say that from time immemorial the 
principle of government by representation has been familiar 
*Green's IJistory pf tbe Euglish People. VoL I., Chap. I. 



20 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

to Englishmen, even before they came to live in their island 
kingdom, and while they inhabited their fatherland in 
Northern Germany and Denmark. For a time this system 
was applied only to the government of small communities, 
but, as the centuries rolled by, it received a wider applica- 
tion and finally became one of the chief factors in the 
administration of national affairs. 

We cannot undertake to trace the history of the develop- 
ment of representative government in England through the 
centuries which have passed since the Anglo-Saxon inva- 
sion, but one of its critical stages may be noticed with profit. 
During the thirteenth century there was a long struggle be- 
tween the King of England, who was seeking to retain 
absolute power, and the people, who were striving for 
greater political rights, under the leadership of Simon de 
Montfort, Earl of Leicester. In this struggle, called the 
Baron's War, which lasted for many years, the people finally 
triumphed, and in the year 1265 a Parliament was assem- 
bled, composed of representatives of all of the people. 

Comparatively little is known of this Parliament, except 
that it was the first example of the complete application of 
the principle of representation to the affairs of the whole 
nation. Thirty years later the work was completed and 
perfected by the assembling, during the reign of Edward I., 
of what is called in English history the Model Parliament. 

Then, to know fully the history of representative govern- 
ment, as it exists among the English-speaking people, it is 
necessary to commence with the German tribes who in 
ancient times inhabited the northern part of Europe, to 
follow them in their invasion of England, and to trace for 
many years the struggles with kings and nobles until the 
time of Edward L, and thence to the settlement of our own 
country in the early part of the seventeenth century. It is a 



DISTINCTIVE FEATURES 21 

long story, filled with tales of human suffering, war and 
bloodshed, which we little realize in our day, so accustomed 
have we become to the enjoyment of these privileges se- 
cured by the continued struggles of our ancestors for so 
many centuries. 

Public Office. — Another distinctive feature of our gov- 
ernment is suggested by the principle emphasized at the 
beginning of this chapter, that the "consent of the gov- 
erned" is the foundation of our system. Bearing this in 
mind, it naturally follows that we have no rulers in the 
governmental sense, for all of the officers of the govern- 
ment, from the President down to the humblest clerk of the 
rural village, are the agents of the people, chosen by them 
to do certain work and expected to carry out their wishes as 
expressed in laws enacted by the representatives of the 
people. 

It has frequently been said that "public office is a pub- 
lic trust." This is true, and means simply that the man 
who is chosen to hold a public office has intrusted to him by 
the people the performance of certain duties, and that he 
must at all times be prepared to give an account of his stew- 
ardship. If unfaithful, he is answerable to the people he 
has betrayed. Public officers are the servants, agents, 
clerks and treasurers, and not the masters of the people. 

Written Constitutions. — We come now to consider 
a feature of our government which is peculiarly and dis- 
tinctively American in its origin and development. It is 
known as the written constitution. The constitution is an 
important feature of all representative governments, whether 
the government be a limited monarchy, like that of Eng- 
land, or a republic, like the United States, and to thoroughly 
understand such a government we must know the meaning 
of the word "constitution" and all of its various applications. 



22 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

The constitution, as the term is used in this country, 
means a written document defining the powers of the gov- 
ernment, the terms and conditions of which furnish the test 
for determining whether or not the government is exceed- 
ing its powers in the performance of any specific act. It is 
often briefly defined as the supreme law of the land, the 
fundamental statute to which all other laws must conform. 
By this we mean that all other laws, whether enacted by 
Congress or any other legislative body, must comply with 
its provisions, and that any law which violates the constitu- 
tion in any respect is void and of no effect, or, as it is 
ordinarily termed, is unconstitutional. 

We may also regard the constitution as the instrument 
which sets forth in detail those rights which the people have 
surrendered to the general government for the common 
good, and the restrictions imposed upon the government in 
exercising these rights. It is the charter from the people 
to the government under which the government exists. 

The constitution of the United States is a written instru- 
ment, setting forth in detail what powers can be exercised 
by the general government, and the manner in which its 
functions must be performed. It, therefore, limits and de- 
fines the objects, purposes and management of the govern- 
ment, and expressly provides, in one of its amendments, 
that the powers not delegated to the United States by the 
constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved 
to the States respectively, or to the people, thereby affirming 
the doctrine that the fundamental source of power is the 
people, who may or may not delegate all of their powers to 
the government. 

What has been said concerning the Constitution of the 
United States is in a measure applicable to the constitutions 
of the respective States. Each of the States within its bor- 



DISTINCTIVE FEATURES 23 

ders has absolute control of the governmental machinery 
relating to the whole State. Leaving out of consideration 
local municipal affairs, all governmental powers which have 
not been committed to the federal government through the 
medium of the Constitution of the United States are exer- 
cised by the State government. It naturally follows that 
the constitution of a State will more intimately concern the 
private life and the daily acts of the citizens than the Con- 
stitution of the United States, because by far a greater 
number of matters are under the control of the State gov- 
ernment than of the national government. 

Branches of Government. — Another characteristic 
feature of our government under the constitution is the care 
with which the various departments of the government are 
separated, so that each will constitute a check upon the 
other. These constitutional provisions are peculiar to our 
government and are not to be found in England or other 
countries under a constitutional form of government. The 
functions performed by a government are divided into three 
classes, the legislative, executive and judicial. 

The legislative, or law-making, department lies at the 
foundation of the government. As a government exercises 
its control over its citizens by means of laws, it is apparent 
that the law-making power is the first to be considered in 
any scheme of government, and that the right to make laws 
is one of the indispensable attributes of sovereign power. 

The judicial department in a constitutional government 
exists for the purpose of interpreting the laws and applying 
them to the transactions of daily life. It exercises an impor- 
tant check upon the legislative department, because it deter- 
mines whether or not any of the laws enacted by the legis- 
lature are in violation of the constitution, and, for that 
reason, void. 



24 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

The executive department executes the laws. This may 
be done by providing the proper machinery for carrying 
into effect the declarations of the legislature without the 
intervention of any court, or by carrying out the decisions 
of a court as to the effect of the laws upon a given transac- 
tion. 

Different Governments Under Which We Live. — 
We shall now consider briefly the triple character of the 
government under which every citizen of the United States 
lives, and show that he owes allegiance to three dif- 
ferent governments — namely, the national government, 
the State government and the local government of the 
county and of the city, town or village in which he has his 
home. And herein we find a governmental arrangement pe- 
culiar to our own country, to which we may point with pride, 
because by means of it we have been able to become one of 
the great nations of the earth and at the same time have left 
with the people unimpaired the right of local self-government. 

This great result has been accomplished through the me- 
dium of written constitutions, by which the people have 
delegated to these different governments the only powers 
which they can rightfully exercise. Thus the Constitution 
of the United States sets forth in detail those powers which 
are to be exercised and the duties which are to be per- 
formed by the Federal Government, which has no right 
whatever to exceed the limits imposed by the constitution. 
These powers are of such a character that they could not 
well be exercised by each individual State ; because relating, 
as they do, to the welfare of the entire country, they must 
be exercised in a uniform manner throughout the entire 
territory. 

The Federal Government, among other things, has power 
to regulate our intercourse with foreign nations, to pro- 



DISTINCTIVE FEATURES 25 

vide for the support of the army and navy, to establish 
and maintain a postal system, to coin money and issue 
bills and notes which circulate as money, and to fix the 
terms and conditions under which people born in other 
countries may become citizens of the United States. It is 
apparent that powers such as these must be exercised by 
some central authority that can enforce obedience in all 
parts of the land, and for this reason the government of the 
United States as a nation was established. 

The next government to which every citizen owes respect 
and obedience is that of the State in which he lives. The 
powers and prerogatives of the state governments are much 
more numerous than those of the national government. 
The only limitations placed by the Constitution of the 
United States upon the power of a state government are that 
it shall not exercise any of the powers which have been 
given exclusively to the United States, and shall not do cer- 
tain other things expressly forbidden, which no State would 
probably ever wish to do, as coining money, granting titles 
of nobility or passing any law impairing the obligation of 
contracts. With these few restrictions, every governmental 
action is within the power of the State, subject only to such 
conditions as may be imposed by the people through the 
provisions of the State constitution. 

The third government to which every citizen is subject is 
the municipal government of the village or city in which he 
lives. All city governments derive their powers from the 
legislature of the State in which they are situated and can 
exercise no power or authority except such as is granted 
by the act of the legislature creating the city government. 
These powers are numerous and intimately connected with 
the daily life of the citizen. The city government is the 
agency provided by the State for enabling the inhabitants of 



26 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

a city to regulate their own local affairs, as the control of 
streets and sidewalks, the construction of buildings, the 
supplying of water, and numerous systems tending to pro- 
mote the health and welfare of the citizens in their daily 
life. 

In this way the magnificent fabric of our government has 
been created. It is a marvel of political ingenuity, because 
it is the only government which has solved the problem of 
preserving the right of the people to regulate local affairs 
and has constructed a powerful nation out of independent 
self-governing elements. 

The Declaration of Independence. — When our fore- 
fathers decided to form an independent government for 
the benefit of the people of this country, they wisely de- 
cided to state definitely their ideas as to what such a gov- 
ernment should be and the reasons for their action in a 
document signed by the representatives of the people, so 
that all who perused it could understand the motives which 
prompted their action. 

This document was the Declaration of Independence. It 
is a model of brevity and logical reasoning, and embodies in 
its few lines the results of profound knowledge of the science 
of government. If thoroughly analyzed and comprehended 
it will be found to contain a complete statement of the 
objects for which governments exist, and in its arraignment 
of the king of Great Britain there is a protest against nearly 
every form of governmental abuse. Its statements of the 
principles of our government cannot be excelled and we 
cannot too often recur to its study, for in it we find litera- 
ture of the greatest merit, political science never excelled 
and governmental philosophy whose soundness cannot be 
questioned. 

The principles which are maintained by our government 



DISTINCTIVE FEATURES 27 

are the equality of all men in the eyes of the law, the right 
of the individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, 
the consent of the governed as the foundation of all govern- 
mental power and the unquestioned right of the people to 
alter and change the form of government as they may see fit. 
There are some who profess to regard these doctrines as 
old-fashioned, antiquated generalities, but these cannot be 
considered intelligent and patriotic citizens of the republic. 
The principles embodied in the Declaration of Independ- 
ence have been, and still are, the hope of humanity, and to 
insure their perpetuation the greatest intelligence and 
watchfulness is required of every citizen. 



CHAPTER IV. 
COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS 

It would be tedious to enumerate in detail the changes 
and alterations which took place in the government of the 
different colonies during the one hundred and fifty years, 
which intervened between the first settlement of our country 
and the Revolutionary War. Therefore we shall consider 
only the forms of government which prevailed in the colo- 
nies at a period just prior to the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, because the governments of the various States have 
been the direct outgrowth of the colonial governments as 
they existed at that period, but slight changes, compara- 
tively speaking, being needed in the case of the thirteen 
original colonies in order to adapt their governments to the 
necessities of a sovereign state. 

The colonies had no written constitutions, in the sense 
in which the term has been heretofore explained, but each 
of them had fundamental written laws which took the place 
of a constitution. These laws were to be found in the 
charter or grant of power from the King of England to the 
colony, in the commission of the governor issued to him by 
the King, and in the various instructions from the British 
Crown and colonial offices to the officers of the colony. 

The Charter. — In the history of the government of the 
British colonies in this country, the charter has almost as 
important a place as the constitution occupies in the gov- 
ernment of the present day. A charter is defined as a grant 

(28) 



COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS 29 

made by the sovereign, either to the whole people or to a 
portion of them, securing to them the enjoyment of certain 
political rights. In many of the colonies the charter was 
the fundamental law, but it was unlike a constitution, be- 
cause a constitution is a fundamental law established by the 
people themselves, while the charter emanated from the 
sovereign, who was the King of England. 

The term charter, as denoting a concession or grant of 
political rights from the ruler, came into use during the 
Middle Ages, when all governments were absolute in form. 
In those days the cities of Europe were the centers of edu- 
cation, art and refinement, and in many cases the people 
made such progress in wealth and civilization that they no 
longer were willing to submit to the exactions of an arbi- 
trary government, and sought to obtain from their rulers 
moderate political privileges, enabling them to exercise in 
some degree the right of local self-government. 

The written document by which the sovereign granted 
political rights in such cases as these was called a charter. 
Sometimes such a charter was obtained only after a long 
struggle involving war and bloodshed, and sometimes it was 
obtained by a cash payment to the ruler, and sometimes, 
when the ruler was a man of unusual intelligence, the rights 
were freely granted when deserved, the only consideration 
demanded being the continued loyalty of the people. 

Magna Charta. — In English history, for many years 
the term charter was understood to refer to one document 
alone, known as Magna Charta, or The Great Charter. This 
document, which has almost as prominent a place in the 
political history of the United States as in that of England, 
was a grant of political rights, which King John of England 
was compelled to give to his people on the 15th day of June 
in the year 121 5. This date should be remembered, for on 



30 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

that day many of the rights which are now secured to us 
by our own laws were for the first time embodied in a 
permanent written form for the benefit of the people then 
living and of future generations. 

Space will not permit us to tell the intensely interesting 
story of the long struggle between King John and his peo- 
ple which culminated in the granting of this famous char- 
ter, nor to relate the abuses which it corrected, and which, 
abandoned for so many years, can interest us now only as 
matters of curiosity and historical study. The importance 
of the document in those ancient times is best shown by the 
following words of the great English historian, which are 
just as significant to Americans as to Englishmen : 

"Copies of it were made and sent for preservation to the 
cathedrals and churches, and one copy may still be seen in 
the British Museum, injured by age and fire, but with the 
royal seal still hanging from the brown, shriveled parch- 
ment. It is impossible to gaze without reverence on the 
earliest monument of English freedom, which we can see 
with our own eyes and touch with our own hands, the Great 
Charter, to which, from age to age, men have looked back 
as the groundwork of English liberty."* 

And so, following the course of English history from 
century to century, we find that as often as the burdens of 
the people became unbearable, so often matters came to a 
crisis, and little by little the rights of the people increased 
and the absolute powers of the kings diminished ; but we are 
now concerned with the affairs of our own country alone, 
and these allusions to English political history are made 
only for the purpose of showing the long and steady growth 
and development of the cause of popular government, com- 
mencing with the meager concessions wrung by force from 

* Green's History of the English People. 



COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS 31 

unwilling monarchs in the Middle Ages and culminating in 
the magnificent framework of our own government. 

Colonial Grants. — In the seventeenth century, for the 
purpose of developing the natural resources of the North 
American colonies and thereby increasing the wealth, power 
and glory of his own kingdom, the King of Great Britain 
granted to some of his subjects charters authorizing them 
to fish, hunt and trade, to make settlements and occupy land 
on this continent. These charters granted to trading com- 
panies were the first fundamental laws which existed in this 
land, but later when the colonies had grown in population 
and wealth to such an extent that other governmental 
machinery was needed, more complete charters were 
granted in some cases, and in others a royal governor was 
appointed, who had the right to exercise such powers of 
government as might be included in the commission of the 
king appointing him. 

We shall not attempt to study all of the different forms 
of government which existed at different times in the 
colonies, leaving that to be taken up in connection with your 
historical studies, where the subject properly belongs ; but 
we should know something of these governments as they 
existed just prior to the Revolutionary War, in order to 
understand how dependent colonies were transformed into 
sovereign states.* 

At this time the colonies, so far as their form of govern- 
ment is concerned, may be divided into three classes. 

I. Royal Colonies. — This class includes the colonies 
of Virginia, Georgia, New Hampshire, New York, New 
Jersey, North Carolina and South Carolina. The govern- 
ment of these colonies was controlled almost entirely by 



* An excellent account of the colonial governments may be found in Mar- 
tin's Text Book of Civil Government. 



32 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

England. The colony had no written constitution preserv- 
ing and protecting the rights of the people, but the funda- 
mental law which controlled their government was to be 
found in the instructions given their governor by the En- 
glish Crown. They had a governor who was the chief 
executive officer, and a council appointed by the King to 
assist him in performing his duties. 

The governor had the power of calling a legislative as- 
sembly for the colony, composed of representatives of the 
different sections, but no laws could be framed which were 
in any way repugnant to the English government. The 
governor also had a control over the acts of the legislative 
assembly, because if the assembly disregarded his wishes 
and persisted in enacting laws which did not meet with his 
approval, he could veto these laws and dissolve the legisla- 
tive assembly whenever he saw fit. With the advice of his 
council he could appoint judges, create courts and perform 
many other functions of an absolute ruler. From this brief 
statement, it will be seen that the government in the colo- 
nies above mentioned had few of the distinguishing charac- 
teristics of a government by the people. 

2. Charter Colonies. — While these colonies had no 
written constitution, they had a fundamental law which was 
to be found in the charter or grant of power from the king. 
This charter was in effect a constitution, because it gave to 
the people of the colony certain rights of self-government. 
Any attempt on the part of the English government to annul 
these charters, or in any way to modify the protection which 
they afforded to the people, always caused trouble, and to 
the frequent recurrence of these attempts may be traced the 
causes which led to the Revolutionary War. 

The charter colonies were three in number — Massachu- 
setts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Of these three, the 



COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS 33 

charters of Rhode Island and Connecticut were most 
favorable to the cause of popular government in the colo- 
nies. Rhode Island and Connecticut were pure republics 
and both branches of the legislative assembly were elected 
by the people. In fact, so satisfactory were the charters to 
the people of these two colonies that the charter of Con- 
necticut remained as its only constitution until the year 
1818, and in Rhode Island no other constitution was 
adopted until the year 1842. 

The charter of Massachusetts vested the executive branch 
of the government in the governor, who was appointed by 
the English government. The legislative branch consisted 
of an assembly of two houses, the lower house being com- 
posed of representatives chosen by the people. The House 
of Representatives, or the lower house of the legislative 
assembly, had the power of electing the upper branch of the 
assembly, which was known as the Governor's Council. 
Such elections were subject, however, to the veto of the 
governor. Thus, while the colonial government of Massa- 
chusetts was much more liberal and democratic than the 
government of the Royal Provinces, still it was not to be 
compared in this respect with the charters of Rhode Island 
and Connecticut. 

3. Proprietary Colonies. — These colonies were three 
in number — Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. They 
were called proprietary colonies because they originated in 
a grant of land from the King of Great Britain to an indi- 
vidual who was, by the terms of his grant, vested with the 
full power of framing and exercising a form of government 
over the territory under his jurisdiction. In these colonies 
the governor was appointed by the proprietary lord, but in 
some cases the proprietary himself acted as the governor. 

In Maryland, under the terms of the grant from the King 



34 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

of Great Britain, the office of proprietary was hereditary in 
the Calvert family. The government in this and other pro- 
prietary colonies was not unlike that of a limited mon- 
archy. The people had no voice in the appointment of a 
governor, but did have the right to elect a legislative assem- 
bly to enact the laws for the government of the colony. 

Pennsylvania and Delaware were separate colonies and 
had separate legislative assemblies, but they originated in 
the grant from the King of Great Britain to William Penn, 
who was the proprietary and in whose descendants the pro- 
prietorship vested, the same as in the case of the Calvert 
family in Maryland. 

The Transition from the colonial forms of government 
to the government of a State was easy. In the case of Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island, no change was necessary until 
many years after the independence of the United States, 
when the altered conditions due to the progress of the 
people in the nineteenth century made the former govern- 
ment antiquated and unsuitable. In Massachusetts only 
slight changes were necessary, such as providing for the 
election of a governor and both branches of the legislative 
assembly by the people and the removal of the name of the 
King of Great Britain from all legal documents and substi- 
tuting, in lieu thereof, the name of the People of the State 
of Massachusetts. In the Royal Provinces the changes 
were more numerous, as the people in these colonies, by 
appropriate legislation, wiped out of existence all vestiges 
of royal authority, and enacted laws giving to themselves 
such rights as had formerly been granted by the King of 
Great Britain to the people of Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut. 

Political Status of the Colonies. — In this way the 
State governments of the thirteen original States were 



COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS 35 

framed, and the same model has been used in providing a 
government for the new States upon their admission into 
the Union. The political status of the colonies, at the time 
of the Revolutionary War and of the respective States of 
the Union after the federal government was formed, has 
been the subject of much discussion among writers upon 
historical and political subjects. This subject has been ad- 
mirably treated by Mr. Justice Story in so brief and force- 
ful a manner that we cannot do better than adopt his words 
as a guide : 

"Though the colonies had a common origin and owed a 
common allegiance, and the inhabitants of each were British 
subjects, they had no direct political connection with each 
other. Each was independent of all others ; each, in a lim- 
ited sense, was sovereign within its own territory. There 
was neither alliance nor confederacy between them. The 
assembly of one province could not make laws for another, 
nor confer privileges which were to be enjoyed or exercised 
in another, further than they could be in any independent 
foreign state. As colonies they were also excluded from 
all connections with foreign states. They were known only 
as dependencies ; and they followed the fate of the parent 
country, both in peace and in war, without having assigned 
to them, in the intercourse or diplomacy of nations, any dis- 
tinct or independent existence. They did not possess the 
power of forming any league or treaty among themselves 
which should acquire an obligatory force without the assent 
of the parent state. 

"But, although the colonies were independent of each other 
in respect to their domestic concerns, they were not wholly 
alien to each other. On the contrary, they were fellow- 
subjects, and for many purposes one people. Every col- 
onist had a right to inhabit, if he pleased, in any other 



36 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

colony ; and, as a British subject, he was capable of inherit- 
ing lands by descent in every other colony. The commercial 
intercourse of the colonies, too, was regulated by the gen- 
eral laws of the British Empire, and could not be restrained 
or obstructed by colonial legislation."* 

Such was the condition of the colonies in the year 1775. 
But when the final struggle with the parent country com- 
menced, the necessity for some sort of union among the 
colonies was more apparent than ever, because it would 
have been impossible for thirteen small states to success- 
fully prosecute a war against the most powerful nation of 
Europe without combining their resources and presenting 
a united front to the common enemy. For this purpose 
temporary expedients were adopted, probably the best that 
could have been devised under the circumstances, but, as 
experience proved, wholly insufficient to regulate the affairs 
of a great nation. 

Consequently, during the period from 1775 to 1789, when 
the present constitution was adopted, the government of the 
United States, except as to the local affairs of each colony, 
was unsettled to such an extent that many statesmen de- 
spaired of ever being able to form a successful national 
government. 

■* Story's Commentaries on the Constitution. 



CHAPTER V. 
FORMATION OF THE AMERICAN UNION. 

The fifteen years which intervened between the meeting 
of the First Continental Congress, in 1774, and the begin- 
ning of government under our present constitution, were 
probably the most critical for the cause of popular govern- 
ment that have ever passed. During these years, the coun- 
try's future was often imperiled, not only by the successes 
of the British army, in the earlier stages of the Revolution- 
ary War, but at all times by the inefficiency of our own 
central government, and later, after our arms had been vic- 
torious and the power of England had been banished from 
our shores, by the petty jealousy, suspicion and rivalry 
which prevailed among the respective colonies. 

Prior to the year 1774 there had been no permanent union 
of the colonies, but each had been careful to preserve its 
political identity. Such attempts as had been made toward 
effecting a union had been viewed with distrust by the col- 
onists and regarded with disfavor by England. During the 
seventeenth century, between the years 1643 and 1683, there 
had been a defensive alliance between the New England 
colonies for the purpose of protecting their settlements from 
the attacks of hostile Indians, but this union did not con- 
template or include within its scope any plan for the govern- 
ment of all the colonies by a central authority. 

Albany Convention. — From time to time the political 
thinkers of the colonies discussed the feasibility of union, 

(37) 



38 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

and in 1754 Benjamin Franklin and others were instru- 
mental in assembling a meeting of representatives from 
many of the colonies, known as the Albany Convention. At 
this convention a scheme for the union of the colonies was 
presented, but nothing came of the movement, for the plan 
was not received with favor, either by the inhabitants of the 
colonies or by the English government. 

Stamp Act Congress. — The necessity for union had 
not yet appeared, and it needed the oppression of England 
to arouse in the colonists the spirit of independence. The 
attempted enforcement of the Stamp Act aroused such in- 
dignation that, in 1765, delegates from eight of the colonies 
met and protested against the obnoxious law. This assem- 
bly was known as the Stamp Act Congress. It had no 
legislative powers and did not attempt to exercise any 
authority over the colonies ; but by its meeting the people 
of the country became, to some extent, imbued with the idea 
of uniting for the purpose of resisting the aggressions of the 
English government, and its protest was effectual in causing 
the repeal of the Stamp Act. 

Oppressive Laws. — Notwithstanding these evidences 
of the temper of the colonies and their determination to 
resist all laws which did not recognize their rights as British 
subjects to the same extent as if they had been actual resi- 
dents of England, the English government persisted in 
enacting legislation having for its object the imposition of 
taxes upon the colonists and restraining them from pursu- 
ing a free and untrammeled course in their commercial 
affairs. 

Among these laws which the colonies regarded as oppres- 
sive may be mentioned the Townshend Acts, three in 
number, one requiring the legislature of New York to pro- 



FORMATION OF THE UNION 39 

vide for the support of the English troops quartered in that 
colony, another establishing a Commission of Customs at 
Boston to enforce the collection of taxes and to regulate 
trade, and another placing a tax on glass, paint, paper, tea 
and other articles. 

While these taxes were not burdensome in amount, nev- 
ertheless they aroused the most bitter opposition on the 
part of the colonists, because the attempt of the British 
government to levy and collect them violated a fundamental 
principle of representative government, the colonies believ- 
ing that they had the legal right to resist the payment of 
any tax which was not levied with their full consent and 
concurrence. In other words, the colonists, not being rep- 
resented in the English Parliament, contended that body 
had no right to impose taxes of any kind upon them ; 
hence they boldly asserted the doctrine fundamental in all 
popular governments, that taxation without representation 
is unlawful. 

First Continental Congress.— It is not our purpose 
to write a history of these troublous times between 1765 
and 1774, and therefore we shall only enumerate certain 
laws enacted by the British Parliament which the colonists 
regarded as oppressive, and which led to the meeting of the 
First Continental Congress in the month of September, 
1774, and shall leave the story of these transactions to be 
learned in connection with your historical studies or to be 
the subject of supplementary reading. 

The laws to which reference has been made were the 
Boston Port Bill, virtually closing the port of Boston to 
commerce ; the Transportation Bill, whereby in certain cases 
persons accused of murder in resisting the laws might be 
sent to England for trial ; the Massachusetts Bill, an attempt 
on the part of England to modify the charter of Massachu- 



40 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

setts ; the Quartering Act, providing for the quartering of 
British soldiers upon the people ; and the Quebec Act, de- 
priving the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vir- 
ginia of the vast Northwestern Territory claimed by them 
between the great lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi riv- 
ers, and annexing the same to the Province of Quebec. 

The indignation aroused by the passage and attempted 
enforcement of these laws was such that, under the lead of 
Massachusetts and Virginia, a body composed of delegates 
from all of the thirteen colonies, except Georgia, assembled 
in Philadelphia to take such action as might be deemed 
necessary to obtain a redress of their grievances. This as- 
sembly is known in history as the First Continental Con- 
gress. It remained in session in Carpenter's Hall in Phila- 
delphia from September 5, 1774, to October 26, 1774. 

In these sessions the congress, on behalf of the people of 
the colonies, adopted a Bill of Rights* and formulated ad- 
dresses to the people of the colonies and to the king and 
people of Great Britain, for the purpose, as it was hoped, of 
bringing about a better understanding between the parties 
to the controversy, and thus avoiding further conflict. It is 
to be noticed that at this time the people of the colonies were 
still loyal to England and had no thought of becoming an 
independent nation, but sought only to obtain what they 
conceived to be their rights as Englishmen. The acts of 
the First Continental Congress are important in the polit- 
ical history of our country because, by its proceedings, the 
sentiment in favor of union between the colonies was 
strengthened and developed, and at that time general laws 
were first enacted commanding the respect and obedience 
of the entire country, and, being ratified and approved by 

♦For an explanation of this term see page 103. 



FORMATION OF THE UNION 41 

the respective colonies, they had all the dignity of national 
laws. 

Second Continental Congress. — The Second Conti- 
nental Congress met at Philadelphia in May, 1775. At this 
time the battles of Lexington and Concord had taken place 
and the authority of Congress was recognized as the su- 
preme power of the land. Congress at once assumed man- 
agement of the continental army, raised money for prose- 
cuting the war with England, and, on behalf of the united 
colonies, entered into negotiations with foreign countries. 
The exercise of such powers as these is one of the attributes 
of sovereignty, and, with the creation of a central govern- 
ment representing the entire country, the history of the 
American Union commences. 

The Continental Congress has been called a revolution- 
ary body, because there was no legal authority for its exist- 
ence. Its organization was the spontaneous act of the 
people, caused by the pressing necessity for some central 
government. It assumed to act with an authority which it 
did not really possess, because no powers had ever been 
conferred upon it expressly by the people, and its existence 
was due solely to the necessity of meeting the crisis occa- 
sioned by the war with England. 

. The most of its acts had the effect of general laws, as they 
met with the consent and approval of the people ; otherwise 
Congress would have been powerless to enforce its own 
commands. 

Need of a Central Government. — Such a govern- 
ment as this could not be otherwise than inefficient and 
unsatisfactory, and with the Declaration of Independence, 
the need of a stronger central government was more ap- 
parent than ever, for then the united colonies assumed a 



42 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

place among the sovereign, independent nations of the 
world and required a government having at least power to 
enforce the obedience of its own citizens. 

The problem of framing such a government was difficult 
under the conditions which then existed. Community of 
race and language, similarity of political institutions, com- 
mon interest and common dangers, all impelled the colonies 
toward a strong federal union, but, on the other hand, the 
spirit of distrust and jealousy, the fear that the larger colo- 
nies would absorb the smaller and the feeling of local pride 
on the part of the different colonies tended to keep them 
apart. 

Articles of Confederation. — Accordingly, in the year 
1777, the Articles of Confederation were prepared and sub- 
mitted to the people of the colonies for approval. This 
approval was necessary, because the principle that the pow- 
ers of the government could be exercised only with the 
consent of the governed had been enunciated by the Dec- 
laration of Independence. The object of the Confederation 
was stated to be the formation of a "league of friendship ,, 
between the States "for their common defense and the 
security of their liberties and their mutual and general wel- 
fare." The Articles of Confederation were finally adopted 
in the year 1781, when the war with Great Britain had prac- 
tically ceased; but government under them was a failure, 
because their plan, while contemplating the creation of a 
national government, still did not deprive the states of their 
sovereign powers and left them undisturbed in the exercise 
of powers inconsistent with the theory of a strong central 
government. 

For example, it is impossible for any government to 
exist unless it has the power of raising money with which 
to meet its obligations. This must be done by taxation, 



FORMATION OF THE UNION 43 

which is simply a method of taking a certain amount oi 
the private property of citizens and applying the same to 
the payment of the expenses of the government incurred for 
the common good of all. 

Under the "league of friendship" the expenses of gov- 
ernment were to be paid out of the common treasury, 
supplied by the States in proportion to the value of all 
land within each State, but the taxes for paying that pro- 
portion were to be levied by the legislatures of the several 
States. Consequently, no matter how seriously Congress 
might need money, it could obtain none unless the States 
carried out their compact and levied the necessary taxes, 
a thing which they generally failed to do. Hence, at the 
very outset, we find the national government absolutely 
without the power of taxation, probably the most necessary 
and fundamental prerogative for any government to possess. 

Another of the inseparable attributes of sovereignty is 
the power to make treaties with foreign nations for the pur- 
pose of regulating trade between the countries. Under the 
Articles of Confederation, Congress had no such power, and 
consequently Spain and Great Britain refused to make any 
commercial treaties with the new government, and, in ad- 
dition, did all they could to hamper the commerce of the 
States by exacting burdensome taxes upon imported goods 
and by other restrictions upon trade. This condition of 
things imposed great hardship upon the people of this coun- 
try, because they were neither able to purchase abroad many 
articles of necessity not manufactured here, nor could they 
dispose of their own agricultural products, which consti- 
tuted their chief wealth. 

A short experience with the scheme of government fur- 
nished by the Articles of Confederation served to show that 
numerous amendments were required to promote the efii- 



44 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

ciency of the government, and that without such amend- 
ments the union of the States, instead of being perpetual, 
as the Articles had planned, was in constant danger of com- 
plete disruption. When this conclusion was reached an- 
other glaring defect was found, in that it was provided by 
these Articles that no amendment could be made unless 
agreed to in a congress and afterward confirmed by the 
legislatures of all the States, thus rendering it extremely 
difficult, if not in many cases absolutely impossible, to se- 
cure any alteration in the governmental system. 

The Critical Period. — Many other defects in the 
Articles of Confederation might be mentioned, but these 
few will serve to show how imperfect was the system. 
After the close of the Revolutionary War, and from 1781 
to 1789, the condition of the country was deplorable. This 
has been called "the critical period of American history," 
because then the chances for the success of popular gov- 
ernment in this country were about evenly balanced. It 
was, indeed, "a time that tried men's souls," as had been 
said of the Revolutionary period. 

The close of the war had left the country burdened with 
a large debt, on which Congress could not pay the interest, 
because it had no money and no means of getting any. 
States often refused to pay their due proportion into the 
public treasury. Open rebellion existed in some parts of 
the country and Congress was powerless to enforce order. 
No gold was in circulation and paper money had been 
issued by the States and by Congress to such an extent as 
to depreciate its value and render it worthless. Commerce 
was at a standstill and the entire country was bankrupt. 
Thoughtful people feared a state of anarchy would soon 
prevail and the disruption of the Federal Union would fol- 
low, some even believing that England would again conquer 



FORMATION OF THE UNION 45 

the country, for the king's troops were still quartered in the 
military posts along the northern frontier.* 

The Constitutional Convention. — Under such cir- 
cumstances as these the necessity for a stronger central 
government became imperative, but the result was not 
easy to accomplish. More than one attempt was made 
and failed, but finally a convention composed of delegates 
from all of the colonies, except Rhode Island, was assem- 
bled in Philadelphia on the 14th day of May, 1787. This 
convention continued in session for four months, and as 
the result of its labors the present Constitution of the 
United States was framed and presented to the people for 
approval. 

But little is known as to the debates, which occurred dur- 
ing the meetings of this convention, for the only record of 
its proceedings which has been preserved for our study 
consists of the notes taken by James Madison and others, 
who were in attendance as delegates. These notes were 
very full and make most interesting reading, because they 
show the range of subjects under consideration and the 
names of those who were in attendance and participated in 
the discussions. 

From these records we learn that the proceedings were 
reasonably unanimous and free from violent discussion, 
except upon three questions, the most important of which 
was the manner in which the different States should be 
represented in the Federal Congress. And here we again 
have occasion to notice distrust and suspicion on the part 
of the smaller toward the larger States. The representa- 
tives from the smaller States insisted that, inasmuch as the 
convention was forming a union of sovereign States, each 
of the States should have an equal representation in Con- 

* See Critical Period of American History, by John Fiske. 



46 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

gress, while on behalf of the larger States it was urged that 
the number of representatives from each State should be 
based upon its population. 

This dispute was compromised by giving to each of the 
States an equal representation in the Senate, and providing 
that in the House of Representatives the number of mem- 
bers from each State should be determined by the popula- 
tion. The two remaining questions which provoked serious 
discussion were whether or not the slave trade should be 
permitted to continue, and how slaves should be counted in 
estimating the population of a state as a basis for determin- 
ing the number of members to which it should be entitled 
in the House of Representatives. These questions were of 
immense importance at that time, but owing to the com- 
plete abolition of slavery in this country, they are now inter- 
esting to us only as matters of history. 

This convention was one of the most remarkable bodies 
that ever met, both on account of the momentous work 
accomplished by it, and by reason of the personnel of 
its members, among whom may be mentioned Washing- 
ton, Randolph and Madison from Virginia; Alexander 
Hamilton from New York ; Benjamin Franklin and the two 
Morrises from Pennsylvania; John Rutledge and the two 
Pinckneys from South Carolina ; Roger Sherman from 
Connecticut — and many others, all constituting an assem- 
blage of political thinkers whose sagacity has never been 
surpassed. 

On September 17, 1787, the convention completed its 
labors, and, after the members had signed the new consti- 
tution, "it dissolved itself by an adjournment sine die. 3 ' 
The journal kept by Mr. Madison gives some hint of the 
impressiveness of the occasion by concluding with the fol- 
lowing narrative : 



FORMATION OF THE UNION 47 

"Whilst the last members were signing, Doctor Frank- 
lin, looking toward the President's chair, at the back of 
which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a 
few members near him that painters had found it difficult 
to distinguish, in their art, a rising from a setting sun. 'I 
have,' said he, 'often and often, in the course of the session, 
and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, 
looked at that behind the President, without being able to 
tell whether it was rising or setting; but now, at length, I 
have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a 
setting sun.' " 

The prophecy of the venerable philosopher and patriot 
has proved to be true, for, after more than a century of trial, 
under varying conditions and unforeseen dangers, the Amer- 
ican Constitution has come to be regarded as a masterpiece 
of political wisdom, not only by those who directly enjoy 
its benefits, but by students of political institutions through- 
out the world. Encomiums without number have been lav- 
ished upon it, but none is more forcible and sincere than 
the words of the English statesman, Mr. Gladstone, who 
says: 

"As far as I can see, the American Constitution is the 
most wonderful work ever struck off at one time by the 
brain and purpose of man." 

Equally significant are the following words of Mr. 
Froude, the great English historian : 

"The problem of how to combine a number of self-gov- 
erned communities into a single commonwealth, which 
now lies before Englishmen who desire to see a federation 
of the Empire, has been solved, and solved completely, in 
the American Union. The bond which, at the Declaration 
of Independence, was looser than that which now connects 
Australia and England, became strengthened by time and 



48 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

custom. The attempt to break it was successfully resisted 
by the sword, and the American Republic is, and is to con- 
tinue, so far as reasonable foresight can anticipate, one and 
henceforth indissoluble." 

These are the words of disinterested critics and there- 
fore cannot be attributed to patriotic enthusiasm. 

The constitution was finally ratified by the requisite 
number of States in June, 1788, and since that time it has 
been the supreme law of the land. 



CHAPTER VI. 
OUTLINE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 

The preamble. of the constitution states, within its few 
lines, that it is the act of the people of the United States in 
whom the sovereign power is vested, and also shows, in 
remarkably small compass, the legitimate objects for which 
governments exist.* 

The best government is that which secures such objects 
as are mentioned in the preamble with the least sacrifice of 
personal rights on behalf of the citizens, and the least inter- 
ference with local affairs on the part of the general gov- 
ernment. 

In commencing our study of the Constitution, we notice 
the division of the government into three branches — legis- 
lative, executive and judicial — and observe that the scope 
of each of these departments is strictly defined, so that 
there may be no dispute between the different branches as 
to the duties with which each is charged by the constitu- 
tion. 

The legislative powers of the government are vested in 
a Congress of the United States, consisting of a Senate 
and House of Representatives, the Senate being desig- 
nated sometimes as the upper house and the House of 
Representatives as the lower house of Congress. Con- 
gress must assemble at least once in each year, and the 

*For text of preamble, see Appendix A. 

(49) 



50 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

session commences on the first Monday in December at 
the City of Washington. 

House of Representatives.— The House of Repre- 
sentatives is composed of members chosen every second 
year by the people of the different States. To be eligible for 
the office of representative in Congress a person must be at 
least twenty-five years of age and have been for seven years 
a citizen of the United States, and must be an inhabitant of 
the State from which he is chosen. The number of repre- 
sentatives to which any particular State is entitled depends 
upon the population of the State, the only persons excluded 
in determining the number of representatives at this time 
being Indians. 

At the time of the adoption of the Constitution each State 
was allowed one representative for every 30,000 of popula- 
tion, but every State having a population of less than 30,- 
000 was entitled to one representative. At the present time 
the ratio of representation is determined by the census of 
1890, and each State is allowed one representative for ap- 
proximately every 175,000 of inhabitants. The Constitu- 
tion makes no provision for the appointment of any officers 
of the House of Representatives except the presiding of- 
ficer, who is called the Speaker, and who must be a member 
of the House. Other officers, such as the Clerk, Sergeant 
at Arms and Chaplain, are not members of the House. 

Senate. — The Senate of the United States is composed 
of two Senators from each State, chosen by the State Leg- 
islature for a term of six years. The members of the first 
Senate were divided into three classes, holding their offices 
respectively for terms of two, four and six years, so that 
the term of office of one-third of the Senators expires every 
second year, and it consequently never happens that the 
Senate is composed entirely of new members. In case the 



THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 51 

office of Senator from any State becomes vacant while 
the legislature of the State is not in session, the governor 
has power to make a temporary appointment until the leg- 
islature meets. It has generally been held that the gov- 
ernor does not have power to make a temporary appoint- 
ment in case of vacancies occasioned by a failure of the 
legislature to elect, although in recent years several such 
appointments have been attempted to be made. 

The qualifications of a Senator are that he must be at 
least thirty years of age and must have been a citizen of the 
United States for nine years, and must be an inhabitant of 
the State from which he is chosen. The Vice-President of 
the United States is the presiding officer of the Senate, but 
he has no vote unless the Senate is equally divided. All 
other officers of the Senate are chosen by the Senators, and 
among them is a president pro tempore, who presides in the 
absence of the Vice-President and performs all of the duties 
of the Vice-President in case the Vice-President is required 
to exercise the duties of the President, as was the case 
when Chester A. Arthur became President of the United 
States by reason of the death of President Garfield. 

Executive Department. — The executive power of the 
government is vested in the President, who holds his office 
for four years. No person can be President of the United 
States except a natural-born citizen who has attained the age 
of thirty-five years and who has been for fourteen years a 
resident within the United States. In case of the removal of 
the President from office or of his death, resignation or in- 
ability to act, all of the duties of the office devolve upon 
the Vice-President, and Congress has power to provide by 
law who shall act in case of the death, resignation or dis- 
ability of both President and Vice-President. In such case 
an Act of Congress, passed in the year 1886, has determined 



52 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

that the presidential office shall devolve upon the officers 
composing the President's cabinet, in the following order : 
Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of 
War, Attorney-General, Postmaster-General, Secretary of 
the Navy, Secretary of the Interior. 

Method of Electing the President.— The method of 
electing a President and Vice-President is a peculiar one, 
which was devised by the framers of the Constitution to 
avoid submitting to a popular vote the election of these 
important officers, they deeming it unsafe to leave to the 
excitement of a political campaign the question of deter- 
mining who shall occupy these positions. Accordingly 
they devised a scheme known as the Electoral College, un- 
der which each State chooses a number of electors equal to 
the number of Senators and Representatives to which the 
State is entitled in Congress. 

These electors are chosen by popular vote, and shortly 
after their election they are required to meet in their re- 
spective States and vote by ballot for President and Vice- 
President, one of whom at least shall not be an inhabitant 
of the same State with themselves, naming in their ballots 
the person voted for as President and in distinct ballots 
the person voted for as Vice-President. After they have 
voted, three lists are made of all persons voted for as Pres- 
ident and Vice-President, with the number of votes for 
each. These lists are signed and certified by the electors 
and sent to the Capitol of the United States at Washing- 
ton, directed to the President of the Senate. 

The method of transmitting these certified lists to the 
President of the Senate is interesting. One copy is deliv- 
ered to him at Washington by a special messenger before 
the first Wednesday in January succeeding the election; 
another is sent to him bv mail ; and the third is committed 



THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 53 

to the custody of the judge of the district, to be delivered 
by him to the Secretary of State, in case neither of the other 
certificates has been received by the proper officer at Wash- 
ington before the first Wednesday in January. 

Counting the Vote. — The President of the Senate is 
required to open the certificates in the presence of the Sen 
ate and House of Representatives and count the votes. The 
person having the greatest number of votes for President 
is elected, provided such a number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors. If no person has such a majority, 
then from the persons having the highest number of votes, 
not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as Pres- 
ident, the House of Representatives shall choose by ballot 
the President, but in voting for President the House votes 
by States, each State being entitled to one vote. 

In a similar manner the person having the greatest num- 
ber of votes as Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole number of elec- 
tors, and if no person has a majority then the Vice-Pres- 
ident is chosen by the Senate from the two highest numbers 
on the list. No person can be elected to the office of Vice- 
President unless he has all the qualifications necessary to 
make him eligible for the office of President. 

Judicial Department. — The judicial department of the 
United States is vested in one Supreme Court and in such 
inferior courts as Congress from time to time shall estab- 
lish. All of the judges of these courts hold their offices 
during good behavior, consequently an appointment to an 
office of this kind is highly prized, for it is practically an 
office for life. The jurisdiction of the United States courts 
extends to two classes of cases, one class being dependent 
upon the laws applicable to the case, and the other class 
being dependent upon the character of the persons engaged 



54 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

in the litigation. Among- the first class of cases are those 
arising under the Constitution of the United States, the 
laws of Congress and the treaties between the United States 
and foreign governments, and under the second class are 
included cases affecting ambassadors and other public min- 
isters and consuls and the controversies in which the United 
States or any of the States shall be a party, and between 
citizens of the different States or of foreign States. 

Treason. — In connection with the judicial department 
it is proper to note the only crime against the United States 
which is defined by the Constitution — viz : the crime of trea- 
son, which consists solely in levying war against the United 
States or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and 
comfort. In former times treason has had a much wider 
definition, and history is filled with accounts of persons who 
have been condemned to death or to severe penalties for 
committing comparatively small offenses, because these of- 
fenses happened to be within a category of crimes any one 
of which constituted treason. For this reason the framers 
of the Constitution no doubt thought it necessary for the 
protection of future generations that the meaning of the 
word treason should be definitely established. 

This, in brief, is an outline of the framework of the gov- 
ernment of the United States, and its simplicity is probably 
its most notable feature. In subsequent chapters we shall 
show in detail the powers and duties of each of the depart- 
ments of the government, and, as we proceed, the wisdom 
of the framers of the Constitution will become more and 
more apparent, in devising a scheme of government based 
upon the requirements of a nation having a few millions 
of inhabitants, but which has been found sufficient to meet 
all the requirements for so many years, with all the changes 



THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 55 

resulting from an enormous increase in population and the 
difference in conditions existing between life at the present 
day and that of ioo years ago. 



Note : In connection with the study of this chapter frequent reference should be 
had to the text of the Constitution, which will be found in Appendix A. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE POWERS OF CONGRESS. 

The powers of Congress are so numerous and important 
as to require special attention and explanation, otherwise 
the few brief paragraphs in the Constitution containing the 
grant of these powers will not be fully understood, and the 
student will fail to obtain a full comprehension of the wide 
range of subjects upon which Congress is authorized to 
legislate. 

Taxation. — The power of levying taxes is one of the in- 
dispensable attributes of sovereignty, because no govern- 
ment can exist unless it is able to raise the necessary funds 
for its support. Probably from these considerations the 
first power granted to Congress by the Constitution was 
the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and ex- 
cises, subject to the single condition that they shall be uni- 
form throughout the United States. All of the laws en- 
acted by Congress upon the subject of taxation are based 
upon the authority conferred by these few words. These 
laws must originate in the House of Representatives. 

Duties and Excises.* — A tax may be defined as that 
portion of his property which each citizen is obliged to 
contribute for the support of the government. Duties, 
imposts and excises are different kinds of taxes, each word 
having a distinct meaning indicating the nature of the tax 
designated by it. Duties are taxes imposed by the gov- 
ernment upon the importation and sometimes upon the ex- 
portation of merchandise. An impost is another term 

(56) 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS 57 

used to designate a tax on imported goods, having prac- 
tically the same signification as the word duty. Excises 
are also called internal revenue taxes and are laid upon a 
few articles produced, manufactured or sold in this country, 
principally tobacco, cigars and distilled liquors. 

In times of peace all of the revenues of the United States 
government are derived from duties and excises, but in 
times of war, when the government is under increased ex- 
pense, a great variety of additional internal revenue taxes 
is imposed in order to pay for the cost of supporting the 
army and navy and carrying on military and naval opera- 
tions, often costing several millions of dollars each day. 

Tariff. — Duties are collected by government collectors, 
who are stationed at all of the important seaports and bor- 
der towns, who inspect all merchandise brought into the 
country, determine the amount of tax upon each article 
and see that the tax is paid before the articles are delivered 
to their respective owners. A list of the articles upon 
which a duty is charged, together with the rate of duty 
upon each of such articles, is called a tariff, and the govern- 
ment office where the business incident to the collection of 
duties is transacted is called a custom house. 

Indirect Taxes. — Taxes of this kind are called indirect 
taxes, because they are finally paid by the person who pur- 
chases the imported goods for his own use. For instance, 
a merchant in the United States purchases silk ribbon in 
France at the rate of twenty-five cents per yard. Upon its 
arrival in this country he is obliged to pay a duty at the rate 
of fifty per cent of its cost. A few weeks later he sells the 
ribbon over the counters of his retail store for a price suffi- 
cient to pay the original cost, together with the duty which 
he has paid, the cost of transportation and a reasonable 
profit for his labor and trouble. Thus, a lady who buys 



58 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

this ribbon to furnish decorations for her hat or dress indi- 
rectly pays the tax to the government. 

Direct Taxes.— Direct taxes are those which are im- 
posed upon specific kinds of property, such as land, houses, 
pianos, watches, jewelry, carriages or sewing machines. A 
poll tax is also a direct tax. The United States government 
levies no direct taxes whatever, but leaves that form of 
taxation to be employed by the States. 

Borrowing Money. — Closely connected with the power 
of raising money by taxation is the power to borrow 
money on the credit of the United States to meet the ex- 
penses of the government. It is seldom necessary for Con- 
gress to avail itself of this power in times of peace, be- 
cause, under ordinary circumstances, a well-devised system 
of taxation will provide sufficient revenue to carry on the 
government ; but when war occurs or for other reasons the 
government is put to extraordinary expenses, then Con- 
gress has the power to raise funds by borrowing. In such a 
contingency Congress enacts a law determining the amount 
of money to be borrowed, the nature of the securities, usu- 
ally bonds, to be given to the lenders, the rate of interest to 
be paid and the time and place for the payment of the prin- 
cipal and interest. When this has been done the securities 
are placed in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
who delivers them to the persons lending the money to the 
government. The credit of the United States government 
is so good that it never has any difficulty in borrowing 
enormous sums of money at a low rate of interest. 

Regulating Commerce. — The power to regulate com- 
merce with foreign nations, which is conferred upon Con- 
gress, is the source of a large number of laws enacted for 
the purpose of protecting American ships and controlling 
the conduct of sailors on board them, as well as caring 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS 59 

for American commercial interests in foreign lands. To 
protect the commercial interests of our citizens in other 
countries, the government has agents called consuls sta- 
tioned at all important foreign ports, who perform all acts 
necessary to prevent fraud or injustice in the treatment of 
citizens of the United States. Under the same grant of 
power Congress has made provision for establishing light- 
houses, improving harbors, inspecting vessels, and has 
made many rules, such as those relating to quarantine and 
the employment of competent pilots, all of which are de- 
signed for the protection of our citizens and merchants. 

Inter-State Commerce. — Under the same clause of 
the Constitution, Congress is given power to regulate com- 
merce between the States, and in 1887 it exercised this 
power by passing a law, called the Inter-State Commerce 
Act, to afford relief from many of the abuses then prev- 
alent in connection with the management of the railroad 
systems of this country. By this law railroads are for- 
bidden to discriminate between persons by giving a lower 
freight rate to one shipper than to another, or to favor 
any particular city or locality by giving to it more advan- 
tageous freight rates than to another. 

They are also prevented from entering into combina- 
tions tending to destroy competition by keeping up the 
price of passenger transportation and freight charges, and 
it is made unlawful for them to attempt to influence public 
officers by giving them free passes. To provide for the 
enforcement of this law Congress created the Inter-State 
Commerce Commission, which is composed of five mem- 
bers, appointed by the President and called Commission- 
ers. This commission hears and determines all questions 
arising under the Inter- State Commerce Law, and is rap- 
idly becoming one of the most important tribunals in the 



60 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

whole country, owing to the number and magnitude of the 
matters coming before it for adjudication. 

Coining Money. — The next power of Congress which 
we shall notice is one with which the commercial interests 
of the country are deeply concerned — namely, the power to 
coin money and regulate the value thereof. No business 
of any kind can be transacted without money, which is a 
medium enabling a citizen to exchange one commodity for 
another. In civilized communities no one person produces 
everything which he needs for his own use, but devotes 
his energies to the production of a few articles only. The 
farmer raises more corn and potatoes than he can use, and 
the surplus he exchanges for clothing for himself and fam- 
ily and for other articles which he cannot produce on his 
farm. As it is not easy to find a person who has a stock of 
clothing which he wishes to exchange for corn or potatoes, 
the farmer accomplishes his purpose by selling his prod- 
ucts for money, and with that money he purchases such 
articles as he needs. 

Money may, therefore, be denned as a medium of ex- 
change in commercial transactions. It is also a standard for 
determining the value of all the different kinds of property. 
It follows that the money used must be of uniform value 
throughout the country, and that the monetary system must 
be fixed and certain. For this reason the United States 
government alone has the power to coin money and to is- 
sue bills and notes which circulate as money. 

Different Kinds of Money. — In the United States 
the standard of value is the gold dollar,* and to provide 
the money necessary to carry on the business transactions 
of the country Congress has, from time to time, enacted 



*The gold dollar weighs 25.8 grains, of which 23.22 grains are pure gold 
and 2.58 grains are alloy. 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS 61 

laws under which different kinds of money have come into 
use. 

Gold coins of various denominations are made at the 
United States mints, the most frequently used being the 
$20, $10 and $5 gold pieces. Uncoined gold in blocks and 
bars is equally valuable, and where large payments in gold 
are to be made is preferable because it is more easily han- 
dled and does not lose its value as gold coins do by the 
friction of one upon the other. Gold coin and gold bullion 
are also deposited in the United States Treasury and the 
depositor receives for his gold a kind of paper money 
called a gold certificate, certifying that gold equal in 
amount to the face of the certificate has been so deposited, 
and that the holder of the certificate can exchange it for 
gold at any time he wishes. These certificates are used for 
convenience, as gold in large quantities is a bulky com- 
modity and gold coin depreciates in value by the wear in- 
cident to constant handling. 

The United States government at the present time coins 
silver money of four denominations — the $1, 50-cent, 25- 
cent and 10-cent pieces, the last three being termed subsid- 
iary coins. Silver certificates are issued in the manner that 
has been described in speaking of gold certificates,- but in 
smaller denominations. Silver bullion is not used as money, 
because the silver contained in a silver dollar is less valuable 
than the gold contained in a gold dollar, and consequently 
silver bullion is less valuable, according to its weight, than 
silver dollars. 

Minor coins, consisting of 5-cent pieces, or nickels, as 
they are ordinarily termed, and copper cents, are furnished, 
as they are convenient in small business transactions and 
their use is a matter of daily necessity. 

Treasury notes are promissory notes issued by the gov- 



62 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

ernment. They are sometimes called "greenbacks," and 
were first issued during the civil war. At first they were 
not exchangeable for gold or silver coin, and their value de- 
pended wholly upon the credit given to the government 
and the confidence of the public in the government's ability 
to pay its debts, for these notes were evidences of govern- 
ment indebtedness, just as is the case with the promissory 
note of an individual. In the year 1879, provision was made 
by Congress for the redemption of these notes in coin, 
and for that purpose a reserve fund of $100,000,000 in 
gold coin or bullion is kept in the treasury at all times, and 
these notes are now just as valuable as gold or silver cer- 
tificates. 

National bank notes are a kind of money issued by na- 
tional banks throughout the country, but subject to condi- 
tions imposed by Congress. National banks are corpora- 
tions* organized under and by virtue of an Act of Con- 
gress. This act provides that a portion of the capital of 
the bank must be invested in bonds of the United States, 
which must be deposited in the United States Treasury. 
The banks are then allowed to issue their promissory notes 
to the extent of the face of the bonds deposited by them. 
These notes are payable in coin or greenbacks and circulate 
as money, because their payment is guaranteed by the gov- 
ernment, and consequently they are just as valuable as if 
they had been issued by the government itself. 



*A corporation is an institution, created by governmental power, composed 
of individuals and exercising powers and privileges not possessed by the 
persons composing it. The most important of these are continuous legal 
identity and perpetual succession under the corporate name, notwithstanding 
the changes in the members by death or otherwise. Chief Justice Marshall 
said: "A corporation is an artificial being, invisible, intangible and existing 
only in contemplation of law." 

A large portion of tbe business transactions of the present day is trans- 
acted by corporations, such as banks and insurance, railroad and telegraph 
companies and other organizations in almost every branch of industry. 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS 63 

Patents and Copyrights. — Congress has power to 
protect inventors and authors by securing to them for lim- 
ited periods the exclusive right to their respective inven- 
tions and writings. The wisdom of granting such protec- 
tion as this to promote the progress of science and the use- 
ful arts is manifest, for advancement in civilization and 
power goes hand in hand with the progress of science. In 
exercising these powers, Congress furnishes protection to 
an inventor by granting him a patent upon his invention, 
and to an author or artist by giving him a copyright on his 
writings or drawings. 

A patent is an instrument in writing by which the United 
States Government guarantees to an inventor the exclu- 
sive right to manufacture and sell his invention for a pe- 
riod of seventeen years. The granting of patents is under 
the charge of the Commissioner of Patents, whose office is 
a branch of the executive department of the government. 

A copyright secures to an author or artist the exclusive 
right to print, publish, manufacture and sell his writings 
or works of art for the period of twenty-eight years, at the 
expiration of which it may be renewed for an additional pe- 
riod of fourteen years. Copyrights are granted by the Li- 
brarian of Congress, who is an independent executive offi- 
cer directly under the control of Congress and not at- 
tached to any of the executive departments. 

Bankruptcy. — The power of Congress to establish uni- 
form laws on the subject of bankruptcy throughout the 
United States is one that has recently been exercised by 
the enactment of a law called the National Bankruptcy 
Law. A bankrupt is a person who, through business mis- 
fortunes or for other reasons, is unable to pay his debts, or 
whose debts are greater in amount than the value of all of 
his property. Under such circumstances it is right and 



64 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

just that the debtor should surrender all of his property to 
his creditors to be divided among them in proportion to 
their respective claims, and, having done so honestly, that 
he should be released and discharged from all further obli- 
gation to pay the balance of his debts. In this way, all 
creditors alike are enabled to secure their just proportion 
of the debtor's assets and the debtor is allowed to com- 
mence business anew. To secure these results the present 
bankruptcy law was passed and is now in operation under 
the control of the various District Courts of the United 
States. 

Naturalization. — Another very important power con- 
ferred upon Congress is that of establishing a uniform 
rule of naturalization — that is, of determining in what 
manner and under what conditions persons born in foreign 
countries may become citizens of the United States. These 
rules should be the same in all States, because the Con- 
stitution declares that the citizens of each State shall have 
all the privileges of citizens of every other State. There- 
fore, in order to secure this uniformity, it follows that nat- 
uralization laws must be enacted by the United States Gov- 
ernment. 

These laws require that the subject of a foreign state 
who wishes to become a citizen of the United States must 
make a declaration of his intention in that behalf under 
oath before a court of competent jurisdiction. When this 
has been done, a record is made of the declaration and a 
certificate showing the proceeding is given to the appli- 
cant. After the expiration of at least two years, the process 
is completed by applying to the court for a final certificate 
of naturalization. At this time the applicant is required 
to prove by a credible witness that he has resided in the 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS 65 

United States at least five years, and in the State where 
the application is made at least one year; that his moral 
character has been good during this period, and that he is 
attached to the principles of the Constitution and well dis- 
posed toward the Government of the United States. The 
candidate for citizenship should have a fair knowledge of 
the Constitution and government of this country. After 
this proof has been made, the applicant is required to take 
an oath in which he renounces allegiance to all foreign 
powers and potentates, specifying in particular the one to 
which he has been subject, and declares that he will sup- 
port the Constitution of the United States. The process is 
now complete and a certificate of naturalization and citi- 
zenship is given to the applicant by the court in which the 
proof has been made. 

An applicant for citizenship who came to this country 
before he was eighteen years of age is not required to make 
the original declaration of intention, and soldiers in the 
United States army who have been honorably discharged 
may take the oath of allegiance after one year's residence 
in this country. 

Territorial Government. — The fundamental law of all 
territories of the United States is the Constitution, but 
the form of government of a territory is determined by 
Congress. The power of organizing the government of a 
territory is vested in Congress by a few words of the Con- 
stitution, authorizing that body to "make all needful rules 
and regulations respecting the territory or other property 
belonging to the United States."* 

The political rights granted to the inhabitants of a ter- 
ritory depend upon many considerations, among which are 



♦See Sec. 3, Article IV, of Constitution. 





66 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

the extent and character of the population, the education 
of the people and their ability to manage local affairs. 

It is, therefore, impossible to describe in detail the form 
of government employed in the territories, because it has 
differed somewhat in each case. Generally speaking, the 
right of local self-government has been recognized by 
Congress, but the people of the territory have no voice in 
federal affairs. A Territory has no constitution, its place 
being supplied by the act of Congress under which the 
Territory is organized. This act usually determines the 
qualifications of voters, describes the powers of the Terri- 
torial government, provides for the appointment of a gov- 
ernor and judges by the President, and establishes legisla- 
tive, judicial and executive departments, limiting and defin- 
ing their powers and relations to each other.* 

Classification of Powers of Congress. — The powers 
conferred upon Congress are for the most part enumer- 
ated in Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution, and so 
concise and explicit is the language employed that it is dif- 
ficult to find a single superfluous word in the entire sec- 
tion. It is, therefore, necessary that every student of the 
Constitution should be familiar with the contents of this 
section, as well as a few other sections containing grants of 
power to the United States Government. To assist in at- 
taining this familiarity without attempting to memorize the 
text of the Constitution, the following classification of the 
powers of the United States Government, made by a dis- 
tinguished commentator, who was one of the framers of 
the document, will be found to be useful, the basis of clas- 
sification being the objects sought to be accomplished by 
the granting of the various powers : 

*See Chapter XIII for brief description of the government of the North- 
west Territory. 



THE POWERS OF CONGRESS 67 

1. Powers granted in order to afford security against 
foreign danger, among which may be included those of de- 
claring war, raising and supporting armies, providing and 
maintaining a navy, making rules for the government of 
the land and naval forces, and levying taxes and borrowing 
money. 

2. Powers necessary for the regulation of intercourse 
with foreign nations, which include the power to regulate 
foreign commerce, to define and punish piracy and other 
offenses against the law of nations, and certain powers 
vested in the executive branch of the government relating 
to the making of treaties and sending ambassadors, minis- 
ters and consuls to foreign nations. 

3. Those powers which have for their object the main- 
tenance of harmony and proper intercourse among the 
States. This class is the most numerous of all, and in it 
may be included the powers to regulate commerce among 
the several States ; to coin money and regulate its value ; 
to provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securi- 
ties and coin of the United States ; to establish a uniform 
rule of naturalization and bankruptcy laws; to establish 
postoffices and post roads ; and also certain restraints upon 
the power of the States and certain judicial powers, which 
will be described hereafter. 

4. Powers for the promotion of certain miscellaneous 
objects of general public utility. This class includes the 
power to protect inventors and authors by granting pat- 
ents and copyrights ; the power to exercise exclusive legis- 
lation over the territory known as the District of Columbia, 
in which the seat of the government is located, and a simi- 
lar authority over all forts, arsenals, magazines, dock- 
yards and other needful buildings ; to declare the punish- 
ment of treason; and certain powers relating to the gov- 



68 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

ernment of States and Territories, and to the admission of 
new States into the Union. 

5. Certain provisions enabling Congress to exercise ef- 
ficiently the powers given to it. The first of these provi- 
sions gives to Congress the power to make all needful laws 
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all 
other powers vested by the Constitution in the Government 
of the United States, or any of its departments or officers, 
and the second is that provision which makes the Consti- 
tution and laws of the United States the supreme law of the 
land, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained 
in the Constitution and laws of any State. 



Note-— The classification above given is adapted from articles in The Fed- 
eralist, of which James Madison was the author. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

The few sections of the Constitution relating to the ex- 
ecutive department give but a slight idea of the number 
and importance of the duties discharged by this branch of 
the government, and if we confined our investigation solely 
to a consideration of the functions of those executive offices 
created by the Constitution, we should be limited to the 
President and Vice-President, who are the only officers of 
that department therein mentioned. Bearing in mind that 
the members of the President's Cabinet, eight in number, 
the heads of numerous bureaus and departments, commis- 
sioners of various kinds, the general-in-chief of the army 
and his subordinates, the admiral of the navy and many 
others, all are executive officers, it may seem strange that 
the framers of the Constitution neglected to embody in that 
document more detailed provisions as to this department. 

On the other hand, recollecting that in 1789 the nation 
had a population of only a few million inhabitants and that 
the essential framework of a government for the country 
in those days was simple as compared with the require- 
ments of the present day, it is an additional evidence of the 
wisdom of our forefathers that they did not attempt to pro- 
vide in express terms all of the details of the executive 
branch of the government which might be rendered neces- 
sary by the change in conditions incident to the growth 
and development of a century of progress. 

(69) 



70 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

The framers of the Constitution vested the executive 
power in the President alone, giving him authority to ap- 
point certain other executive officers, but had sufficient fore- 
sight to leave with Congress power to create such other 
offices, subordinate to the President, as future circumstances 
might require. Therefore, the executive department as it 
exists to-day and the duties of all executive officers, with 
the exception of the President and Vice-President, are de- 
pendent upon acts of Congress and not upon provisions 
of the Constitution. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT. 

Commander-in-Chief. — The President, by virtue of his 
office, is commander-in-chief of the army and navy and of 
the militia of the various States when called into the actual 
service of the United States. It has happened in many 
cases that the President has been a man of military experi- 
ence and well qualified to act as commander of the army, 
but the office has never been filled by a man having a naval 
training, and in most cases the President has not been quali- 
fied by personal experience to command either the army or 
the navy. Therefore, the actual management of these 
branches of the government is left to the war and navy 
departments, while the President, as commander-in-chief, 
appoints the heads of these departments and other subordi- 
nate officers. He also has the power of assigning officers 
of the army and navy to their stations and duties and of 
controlling the movements of both branches of the service 
and of determining the plans to be followed and the policy 
to be pursued in their management. 

Opinions of Executive Officers. — To aid and guide 
him in the discharge of his duties he may require the opin- 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 71 

ion in writing of the head of any of the executive depart- 
ments upon any subject relating to the duties of the depart- 
ment, and thus he is able at all times to obtain expert ad- 
vice upon questions concerning which he may not have per- 
sonal knowledge. The power thus given to the President 
to demand this assistance implies a requirement that the 
officer whose opinion is sought shall give it fully, honestly 
and exhaustively. 

Reprieves and Pardons. — The President can grant 
reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United 
States, except in cases of impeachment. A reprieve is an 
order delaying the execution of a sentence for a specified 
time, and a pardon is a grant of complete absolution from 
the consequences of criminal offense. Under monarchical 
governments the power of granting reprieves and pardons 
is a royal prerogative and is exercised only by the sover- 
eign. 

Treaties, — With respect to the relations between our 
government and foreign nations, the President is charged 
with the exercise of powers and the discharge of duties of 
great importance. He has the power of making treaties, 
which are agreements between two or more nations relat- 
ing to matters which concern the welfare of the inhabitants 
of the contracting nations, such as commerce, boundaries, 
claims of citizens of one country against the government 
of another, the rights of a citizen of one country to acquire 
and hold property within the territory of another, the mak- 
ing and preservation of peace and the extradition of crim- 
inals. 

While the President has the power of making a treaty, 
lie does not personally conduct the negotiations with a for- 
eign country, but appoints one or more persons, who meet 
with the representatives of the foreign power and discuss 



72 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

the subject matter of the treaty, acting at all times under 
the direction of the President. In order to negotiate a 
treaty it is necessary that a single officer should have the 
power of representing the government, hence this power is 
given to the President. But treaties as well as the Consti- 
tution are the supreme law of the land, and a treaty has all 
the effect of a law in regulating the dealings of the citizens 
of the different countries with each other; therefore, the 
legislative branch of the government should be consulted 
in the making of laws of so much importance. Hence the 
Constitution provides that, before any treaty can become 
operative, it must receive the consent and approval of two- 
thirds of the Senators of the United States. 

Ambassadors and Ministers. — With the advice and 
consent of the Senate the President appoints ambassadors 
and other public ministers and consuls, who represent the 
interests of our country at the capitals and principal cities 
of all the nations of the world. He also receives the am- 
bassadors and public ministers from other countries who 
are accredited to our government. Every civilized nation 
sends a representative to each country with which it is on 
friendly terms, for the purpose of carrying on negotiations 
and protecting the interests of the nation and its people 
in the foreign land. This system is called the diplomatic 
service. The officers in the diplomatic service of our gov- 
ernment are of four grades — ambassadors, who represent 
our country at the most important capitals, such as those 
of England, France, Germany, Mexico and Russia ; envoys 
extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, who are sent to 
those countries which are not represented at our capital 
by ambassadors ; ministers resident, who are officers of a 
lower rank than the two preceding and are our represent- 
atives at the capitals of second-rate powers; and charges 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 73 

d'affaires, who are accredited to those countries with which 
we have but few relations. 

Consuls. — Consuls are officers of a different class, ap- 
pointed by the President. They are not diplomatic agents 
of the government, but may properly be called its commer- 
cial agents, whose duty it is to protect our commercial in- 
terests in foreign countries and our vessels, seamen and 
citizens and their property in foreign ports. They are of 
three grades — consuls-general, consuls and consular agents 
— the classification being based upon the relative importance 
of the places at which they are stationed. A consul must re- 
ceive from the government of the country in which he is 
located a document granting him permission to enter upon 
his duties. This document is called an exequatur, and in 
our country it is issued to foreign consuls through the of- 
fice of the Secretary of State. 

Consuls have many duties to perform, among which may 
be mentioned — taking care of destitute American sailors, 
certifying shipments of merchandise, examining emigrants, 
certifying the proper execution of legal documents and fur- 
nishing to their own government monthly reports upon mat- 
ters of commercial or political interest. 

Power of Appointment. — The Constitution also gives 
to the President the power of appointing all other officers 
of the United States except those whose selection is regu- 
lated by the Constitution, but reserves to Congress the right 
of determining whether or not the appointment of inferior 
officers shall be made by the President alone, by the courts 
of law or by the heads of departments. In the exercise of 
his power the President appoints a vast number of officers, 
such as judges of the different United States courts and 
other officers connected with the administration of justice, 
district attorneys, marshals and commissioners of various 



74 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

kinds, the members of his Cabinet and heads of depart- 
ments, collectors of customs and of internal revenue, the 
postmasters in large cities, officers of the army and navy, 
governors and judges for the territories and surveyors of 
public lands. The number of officers appointed by the 
President is so large that the work of obtaining information 
on these matters must be left largely for your own inves- 
tigation. 

The President's Veto. — Before an act of Congress 
can become a law, it must be submitted to the President. 
If it meets with his approval, he signs it and by his 
signature makes it a law. In case it does not meet with 
his approval, he returns it to the House in which it origi- 
nated, accompanied by a message, stating the reasons of his 
disapproval. This must be done within ten days after the 
bill has been presented to him. In case the President does 
not sign or return the bill with his objections within ten 
days, it becomes a law without his signature, unless Con- 
gress adjourns within the period. In case of such adjourn- 
ment within the ten days, the bill does not become a law, 
and the retaining of it by the President under such circum- 
stances is called a "pocket veto."* 

After a bill has been vetoed by the President, it can be- 
come a law without his signature, if it is passed by a two- 
thirds majority in each House of Congress. 

Messages. — The remaining duties of the President will 
not be given special attention, with the exception of the re- 
quirement that he shall, from time to time, give to Con- 
gress information of the state of the Union and recommend 
to it such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedi- 
ent. This is an important official duty, because the Presi- 
dent is better informed as to what legislation is necessary 



: The word veto was originally a Latin verb meaning " I forbid. 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 75 

and should be enacted than the members of Congress, who, 
during the interim between the sessions of that body, are 
largely concerned with their own private affairs. 

In fulfilling this duty the first two Presidents opened the 
sessions of Congress with an address delivered in person to 
both Houses, but after the lapse of a few years this practice 
was criticised as being an imitation of the address made by 
the King of Great Britain at the opening of Parliament; 
therefore it was abandoned during the administration of 
Thomas Jefferson, who inaugurated the custom of sending 
a written message to Congress to be read to both Houses 
at the opening of the session. 

It is usual for the President to review in his message, in 
general terms, such important matters connected with the 
administration of the government as he deems it proper to 
mention and to recommend such legislation as he thinks 
the necessities of the country demand. The acceptance or 
rejection of such recommendations depends largely upon the 
confidence which the members of Congress have in the 
President, and it frequently happens that his communication 
is practically ignored when a majority of the members of 
Congress belong to the opposite political party. 

His Responsibility. — It is the duty of the President 
to convene special sessions of Congress when extraordi- 
nary occasions may require, and to adjourn such sessions 
to any time which he may think proper. The responsibil- 
ity for the faithful execution of all of the laws of the United 
States devolves upon the President, and therefore he is held 
accountable for the negligence and mistakes of officers ap- 
pointed by him, although he personally may have had no 
connection with their acts. 

IMPEACHMENT. 

The President, Vice-President and all civil officers of 



7(3 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

the United States can be removed from office only by im- 
peachment for and conviction of treason, bribery or other 
high crimes and misdemeanors. The civil officers of the 
United States who are subject to removal from office by 
impeachment are all executive and judicial officers of the 
government, except officers of the army and navy. This 
does not include members of Congress nor officers of the 
State government, who are liable to impeachment by the 
State legislature for malfeasance in office. Officers of the 
army and navy charged with misconduct are tried by a 
tribunal called a court-martial, which is composed of mili- 
tary or naval officers. 

Definition. — The words impeachment and conviction are 
used in the Constitution, and it is necessary to understand 
the difference in these words, since they are sometimes used 
improperly as being identical in meaning. An impeach- 
ment means a formal accusation against an officer, and, 
except for the importance of the offense and the serious 
nature of the charge, impeachment is in no way different 
from any other form of legal accusation, as a complaint or 
indictment. Conviction means the judgment by which the 
person impeached is found guilty. 

Procedure. — The process by which a civil officer of the 
United States Government is impeached and the trial of the 
charges against him must be commenced by the House of 
Representatives, which, under the Constitution, has the sole 
power of impeachment. The first step in the proceeding is a 
resolution adopted by the House of Representatives, in 
which the person to be impeached and the office held by him 
and the offense of which he has been guilty are set forth in 
detail. Then a committee of the House of Representatives 
is appointed, whose duty it is to make a formal demand be- 
fore the Senate of the United States that the accused be 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 77 

summoned to answer the charges against him and required 
to appear before the Senate for trial. Then a committee 
of the House of Representatives is appointed to prepare the 
formal charges in writing against the officer, these charges 
being called Articles of Impeachment. Another committee 
of the House of Representatives acts as prosecutors in the 
trial on behalf of the House of Representatives, which is 
the accusing body. 

The Senate sits as a court for the trial of cases of im- 
peachment, and when so acting the members must take an 
oath as a jury does when hearing cases between private 
individuals. When the President of the United States is 
under trial on articles of impeachment, the Chief Justice of 
the United States Supreme Court is the presiding officer of 
the Senate. This provision was probably made for the rea- 
son that the Vice-President in such a case might be regarded 
as an interested party, since in case of the conviction of the 
President the honor and dignity of the presidential office 
would fall to him. 

The proceedings upon the trial of an officer under ar- 
ticles of impeachment are similar to those of a court of jus- 
tice, and after the evidence has been heard and the argu- 
ments of counsel have been made, each Senator votes upon 
the question of whether the accused is guilty or not guilty 
of each specific charge. In case of a conviction in impeach- 
ment proceedings, the Constitution requires that the guilty 
officer be removed from his position and disqualified forever 
from holding any office of honor, trust or profit, under the 
United States Government. After a conviction has been 
had in impeachment proceedings, if the officer has been 
guilty of offenses which are punishable by law he may 
be again tried and punished in an ordinary court of justice, 
the same as a private person. 



CHAPTER IX. 
BRANCHES OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

One of the chief functions of government is to enforce 
the laws uniformly throughout the entire country. This is 
performed by the executive branch, of which the President 
is the head, thus giving him the title of Chief Executive, 
by which he is sometimes designated. For administering 
the affairs of government the executive branch is divided 
into nine departments, called the Departments of State, 
Treasury, War, Navy, Interior, Postofhce, Justice, Agricul- 
ture and Labor. The Constitution mentions executive de- 
partments in only a few instances, but these allusions show 
that the framers of that instrument contemplated the cre- 
ation of these departments as necessity might require. It 
will be our aim to learn something in this chapter of the 
manner in which the work of administering the laws is 
divided among these nine subordinate branches and to un- 
derstand the systematic way in which the various duties 
have been subdivided so that each officer, from the head of 
a department down to its humblest clerk, has his individual 
sphere of action perfectly defined. 

The Cabinet. — The head of each department, except 
Post Office, Justice and Labor, is called the Secretary of 
the Department. The head of the Post Office Department 
is called the Postmaster-General ; of the Department of Jus- 
tice, the Attorney-General ; and of the Department of Labor, 
the Commissioner of Labor. The Secretaries of State, 

(78) 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT BRANCHES ?9 

Treasury, War, Navy, Interior and Agriculture, together 
with the Postmaster-General and Attorney-General, consti- 
tute the President's Cabinet. This is an advisory body, 
which holds regular meetings to give the President infor- 
mation concerning the several departments and to recom- 
mend the methods to be employed in dealing with the 
numerous questions constantly arising in the governmental 
affairs of our wealthy and populous nation. The existence 
of the President's Cabinet is due rather to custom and neces- 
sity than to any provision of the Constitution or any law 
of Congress. While all of the offices held by members of 
the Cabinet have been created by laws of Congress, these 
laws make no provision for the association of the heads of 
the departments as a Cabinet. Therefore, as a body the 
Cabinet has no powers and duties except to advise and as- 
sist the President. 

Subordinate Officers. — Several of the departments 
have one or more assistant secretaries, the number of as- 
sistants being dependent upon the volume of business tran- 
sacted by the department. Each of the departments is 
divided into bureaus, the heads of which are called Com- 
missioners ; the bureaus are divided into divisions ; the head 
of each division is called the Chief; the clerical force of 
each division is assigned to various rooms under the charge 
of Chief Clerks. Each person employed in the departments 
has his specific duties to perform and each is responsible 
to his immediately superior officer. 

The Appointing Power. — The power of appointing 
these officers is vested by the Constitution in the President, 
unless Congress provides for their appointment by the 
heads of the departments or otherwise, and speaking gen- 
erally, all of these officers are appointed by the President or 
the heads of the different executive departments. 



80 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

This power of appointment to office is a matter of such 
vital interest to the citizens of our country that every one 
should know the manner in which it is exercised. In the 
early days of the republic civil officers who were honest and 
competent retained their positions through successive ad- 
ministrations, but even then the temptation to fill the offices 
with political friends caused some of the early Presidents 
to swerve from the strict line of duty. History records that 
President John Adams spent the last hours of his term of 
office in making appointments to important public positions, 
in order to forestall the action of Mr. Jefferson, who was to 
succeed him in a few hours. So zealous was he to complete 
the work that when the clock struck the hour which ended 
his term of office he was still at his desk, signing commis- 
sions as rapidly as they could be placed before him.* 

When Andrew Jackson became President in 1828 he at 
once removed a large number of clerks and subordinate of- 
ficers and appointed in their places persons belonging to 
his own political party, and with a zeal worthy of a better 
cause his example has been faithfully imitated as far as pos- 
sible by nearly every President who has succeeded him. 

This practice of regarding positions in the civil service of 
the government as the legitimate rewards of the party suc- 
cessful at the polls became subversive of good government, 
because the inevitable tendency was to repay an active polit- 
ical worker for his labors by appointing him to an important 
public office instead of making honesty and competency the 
sole qualifications. After many years of discussion and 
agitation, Congress enacted the Civil Service Law, which 
requires that appointments to public office shall be based 
upon merit alone and that they shall not be distributed as 
rewards for political services. 



•Morse's Life of Jefferson. 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT BRANCHES 81 

The Civil Service Law. — This law was enacted in the 
year 1883. It provides that the President shall appoint 
three commissioners, no more than two of whom shall be- 
long to the same political party. They are called Civil 
Service Commissioners, and it is their duty to carry into 
effect the provisions of the Civil Service Law. Therefore, 
they are executive officers. 

This law requires the commissioners to hold suitable 
examinations for testing the qualifications of applicants for 
positions in the various branches of the public service, and 
compels the officer who is given the power of appointment 
to make his selections from lists of those persons who have 
passed the required examinations. The law also protects 
employees of the government who have been appointed in 
this way, by forbidding their removal from office except for 
good cause. 

A very large proportion of the subordinate executive of- 
ficers of the government are subject to the provisions of 
this law, but the right to appoint heads of departments 
and many other officers filling positions of great im- 
portance still remains vested in the President. 

Department of State. — The first Congress which met 
after the adoption of the present Constitution created the 
Department of State by a law enacted on January 27, 1789. 
The head of this department is the Secretary of State, who 
ranks first among the members of the Cabinet. He is 
sometimes called the prime minister, or premier, names 
borrowed from the English governmental vocabulary, 
which cannot properly be applied to the Secretary of State, 
for the reason that his duties have but little in common 
with those of the English prime minister. 

The Secretary of State is the minister of foreign affairs, 
and has charge of all correspondence and negotiations 



82 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

with the representatives of foreign governments. He is 
the head of our diplomatic and consular service, and gives 
instructions to our ambassadors, ministers and consuls. It 
is his duty to keep in his custody all treaties with foreign 
countries, as well as the laws and resolutions of Congress 
and the proclamations of the President. He is the keeper 
of the great seal of the United States and attaches it to all 
documents which are required to be authenticated in that 
way, as presidential proclamations, official commissions 
and requisitions for the extradition of fugitives from jus- 
tice. He publishes all of the laws and resolutions of Con- 
gress and is required to report to that body from time to 
time, giving such information as may be needed concern- 
ing the business of his department. There are also several 
Assistant Secretaries of State. 

The department is divided into seven bureaus, the most: 
important of which are the diplomatic and consular, which 
have been sufficiently described in the preceding chapter. 

The Treasury. — The Treasury Department also was* 
created by the first Congress of the United States by law 
enacted on September 2, 1789. The Secretary of the Treas- 
ury ranks next to the Secretary of State, and his duties are 
of the highest importance. He has entire charge and con- 
trol of the financial affairs of the government, and prac- 
tically all legislative acts upon monetary questions are based 
upon his recommendations. It is his duty each year to give 
to Congress such information and advice as will enable that 
body to act intelligently in making provisions for the collec- 
tion of a revenue sufficient to meet the expenses of govern- 
ment and protect the credit of the United States. 

He must superintend the collection of duties and internal 
revenue taxes, the coinage of money, the engraving of the 
different kinds of paper money in use; the engraving of 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT BRANCHES 83 

bonds issued by the government and the payment of all 
obligations on the part of the government. He has charge 
of the Life-Saving Service, the inspection of steam vessels, 
the system of lighthouses, the marine hospitals and the 
erection of public buildings. 

The business of the Treasury Department, as indicated 
by its disbursements alone, is so enormous as to be almost 
beyond comprehension. During its existence it has paid 
out many billions of dollars and its transactions have always 
been so conducted as to furnish a just reason for national 
pride. 

The department is divided into a large number of divisions 
under the charge of chief officers, who are in immediate con- 
trol of a great number of subordinates, not only in Wash- 
ington, but in all parts of the country and in every place 
under the jurisdiction of the United States. So numerous 
are these officers that we can refer to only a few of them. 

The Treasurer of the United States receives and dis- 
burses all of the moneys of the government. He has 
charge of the entire treasury system, including the national 
treasury at Washington and the sub-treasuries which have 
been established in the various large cities of the coun- 
try for convenience in receiving and disbursing the money 
of the government. 

The Register of the Treasury has charge of the book- 
keeping and accounts of the government. The auditors 
examine and pass upon the accounts and expenses of the 
various branches of the government. The national bank- 
ing system is under the supervision of the Comptroller of 
the Currency. The Commissioner of Customs superin- 
tends the government custom houses and the collection of 
duties. 

Other important officers of the Treasury Department 



84 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

are the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Chief of the 
Bureau of Statistics, Superintendent of the Bureau of 
Printing and Engraving, Director of the Mint, Superin- 
tendent of the Life-Saving Service, Solicitor of the Treas- 
ury, Supervising Architect and Commissioner of Naviga- 
tion. 

War Department — The third executive department, cre- 
ated by the first Congress is the War Department, which 
originated with an act of Congress passed in August, 1789. 
During Washington's administration the heads of the three 
departments of State, Treasury and War constituted the 
President's cabinet, and during that period the naval af- 
fairs were under the charge of the War Department. 

The War Department has control of the military affairs of 
the nation, and it also acts as a department of public works. 
In the latter capacity it superintends the construction of 
harbors, bridges, docks and breakwaters, and oversees the 
work of improving rivers and harbors, making them more 
suitable for navigation and expending therefor a large sum 
of money annually. This department has contributed 
greatly toward the advancement of education and science 
by conducting all of the exploring expeditions sent out by 
the government. 

Its Bureas. — The Department of War, like the other 
executive departments, is divided into bureaus, the heads 
of which are officers of the United States Army. The most 
important of these officers are the Adjutant-General, who 
conducts the correspondence relating to the business of 
the department, issues orders to the commanders of the 
various divisions of the army and receives the reports of 
officers actually engaged in military duty; the Inspector- 
General, who inspects the condition of the army at all 
places where any part of it may be located, and examines 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT BRANCHES 85 

the arms and general equipment of the soldiers, as well as 
the accounts of money spent on the maintenance of the 
forces ; the Quartermaster-General, who has control of the 
clothing and general army supplies ; the Commissary-Gen- 
eral, who superintends the purchase and distribution of 
food supplies for the army; the Surgeon-General, who is 
the chief medical and surgical officer and superintends the 
work of the numerous surgeons attached to the different 
military commands; the Chief of Engineers, under whose 
direction fortifications are constructed, bridges and docks 
are built, and harbors improved ; the Judge Advocate Gen- 
eral, the chief legal officer, who reviews all proceedings by 
court-martial and acts as the legal adviser of the depart- 
ment; the Chief Signal Officer, whose subordinates do the 
work of sending messages by means of the heliograph and 
other systems of signals, as well as constructing telegraph 
lines when the army is actively operating in the field. 

The Army. — At the present time the regular army of the 
United States consists of one Lieutenant-General, who is 
the chief officer, six Major-Generals, fifteen Brigadier-Gen- 
erals, fifteen regiments of cavalry, twelve regiments of ar- 
tillery, thirty regiments of infantry, engineer, signal and 
ordnance corps, a corps of chaplains, and the cadets of the 
military academy at West Point. 

The total strength of the army may vary from sixty 
thousand to one hundred thousand men, according to the 
discretion of the President. 

Navy Department. — The Navy Department was es- 
tablished April 30, 1798. The business of the department 
is distributed among eight bureaus, the heads of which are 
officers of the United States Navy. These bureaus are 
Yards and Docks, Equipment and Recruiting, Navigation, 
Ordnance, Construction and Repair, Steam Engineering, 



86 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

Provisions and Clothing, Medicine and Surgery. The gen- 
eral character of the duties performed by these bureaus is 
sufficiently indicated by their names, therefore no detailed 
explanation need be given. 

This department has charge of the Naval Academy at 
Annapolis and of the Naval Observatory at Washington. 
As a part of the work of the Navigation Bureau, it issues 
nautical charts, maps and books for the use of navigators. 
It also publishes a nautical almanac for the guidance of 
sailors. 

The Navy of the United States contains several hundred 
vessels of different types, ranging from the most powerful 
battleships and armored cruisers to tiny torpedo boats and 
revenue cutters. The active list of the Navy comprises 
nearly twenty thousand officers and men, and is constantly 
increasing as new vessels are put in commission. 

The chief officer of the Navy is the Admiral. Other im- 
portant officers below the rank of Admiral, are Rear-Ad- 
mirals, Commodores, Captains and Commanders. 

The Marine Corps is a body of soldiers trained to do 
duty on shipboard. It contains about six thousand men and 
is under the command of a Brigadier-General. Every first- 
class war vessel carries a guard of several companies of 
marines. 

Interior. — It was not until the year 1849 tnat tne ^ n " 
terior Department was created to assume control of various 
matters connected with the internal affairs of the country 
which did not come within the sphere of any of the depart- 
ments existing at that time. The heads of the bureaus into 
which this department is divided are called Commissioners, 
except in two cases, in which they are designated as Super- 
intendents. 

General Land Office. — The Commissioner of the General 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT BRANCHES 87 

Land Office has charge of all matters relating to the man- 
agement and disposal, by sale or otherwise, of the public 
lands of the United States. The importance of the trans- 
actions which have taken place through the medium of 
this bureau will be apparent when we consider that about 
two-thirds of the entire area of the country has been public 
land, the title to which was originally vested in the United 
States. 

In the Revolutionary days there were but six of the orig- 
inal thirteen colonies whose boundaries were established 
and defined beyond question. These were New Hampshire, 
Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and 
Delaware, while the others claimed land extending west- 
ward to an indefinite limit, even in some cases to the Pacific 
Ocean. The question of the disposition of- these lands was 
one of the obstacles which delayed the formation of the 
Union, as those States which had no lands were exceed- 
ingly jealous of the claims of the others ; but the dispute 
was finally settled by the agreement that all of these lands 
should be ceded to the United States Government. 

In addition to the vast western territory, the title to which 
was acquired by cession from the States, the national gov- 
ernment obtained enormous tracts by the purchase of Flor- 
ida from Spain, of Louisiana from France and of Alaska 
from Russia, and by still other additions as the result of the 
war with Mexico. 

All of this enormous territory has been under the control 
of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and nearly 
all of it has been transferred to private ownership by that 
officer, acting under the direction of Congress. To accom- 
plish the distribution of this land among individuals, the 
government has resorted to a variety of expedients. It has 
donated to each State which has been created in this terri- 



88 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

tory one section of land in each township for the support of 
the common schools, and has liberally endowed State uni- 
versities and agricultural colleges in these States by setting 
apart large areas of public lands for the support of these 
institutions. 

Bounties of public lands have been given to the soldiers 
and sailors of the United States for their support when they 
have been honorably discharged from service, and extensive 
grants have been made to States to enable them to build 
roads and canals; still other donations have been made to 
railroad companies for the purpose of aiding in the con- 
struction of railroads necessary for the development of the 
country. 

Many thousands of acres of the public lands of the United 
States have been sold for cash, and from this source the 
government has received several hundred millions of dol- 
lars. In other cases, lands aggregating thousands of acres 
have been donated to settlers upon their compliance with 
certain laws, which require persons receiving such grants 
to settle upon and improve the land. 

Pensions. — The Pension Bureau has charge of the grant- 
ing and payment of pensions to soldiers and sailors of 
the United States who have suffered injury or contracted 
disease while serving in its army or navy. A similar pro- 
vision is also made for the support of the widows and fam- 
ilies of soldiers and bailors. The government expends an- 
nually in the payment of pensions more than $100,000,000 
and the work of distributing this vast sum is performed 
under the direction of the Commissioner of Pensions, at the 
various pension agencies which have been established in dif- 
ferent parts of the country. 

Other Offices. — Other heads of bureaus of the Interior 
Department are the Commissioner of Patents, who super- 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT BRANCHES 89 

intends the granting of patents to inventors; the Com- 
missioner of Indian Affairs, who has control of the support, 
government and education of the Indians now living within 
our borders, the Indians being regarded as wards of the 
government; the Commissioner of Railroads, who looks 
after the interest which the government has in several of the 
Pacific railroad companies, the government having aided 
in the construction of these railroads by grants of land and 
the loan of credit and money, which must be repaid by the 
companies ; and the Superintendent of the Census, who has 
charge of taking the census, which the Constitution requires 
shall be taken every ten years. Two other important bu- 
reaus are those of Education and of Geological Survey, the 
former of which collects and distributes information upon 
educational matters, and the latter investigates the geolog- 
ical and mineralogical features of the different parts of the 
country and publishes reports giving the results of its in- 
vestigations. 

The Post Office Department. — Every one is more 
or less familiar with the workings of this department, for 
the reason that every citizen avails himself of its benefits in 
the transaction of his daily business. This department was 
established in 1789, but the Postmaster-General did not be- 
come a member of the Cabinet until President Jackson's 
administration in 1829. 

He has charge and control of the mail service of the 
government, which provides for the transmission of let- 
ters, newspapers, periodicals and small packages to all parts 
of the world, and has power to award contracts to railroad 
and steamship lines to do this work. He also establishes 
postorfices and appoints postmasters in places, where the 
salary paid does not exceed $1,000 per year. In other places 



90 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

the postmasters are appointed by the President and con- 
firmed by the Senate. 

Justice. — The Department of Justice has been repre- 
sented in the federal government ever since the year 1789, 
when the office of Attorney-General was created, but this 
officer did not become a member of the Cabinet until the 
year 1870. 

The Attorney-General is the chief legal officer of the 
government. He advises the President upon all legal mat- 
ters concerning which his opinion is sought; controls and 
manages, on behalf of the government, all litigation in 
which the United States is interested, and directs Marshals, 
District Attorneys and other law officers of the government 
in the performance of their duties. 

Subordinate to him are several assistant attorneys-gen- 
eral, one of whom is detailed for service in the Interior 
Department and another for service in the Postoffice De- 
partment; also a Solicitor of the Treasury, who attends to 
some of the legal affairs of that department ; a Solicitor of 
the Internal Revenue, and an Examiner of Claims. The 
office of Attorney-General is one of the most important in 
the entire government, and it has been filled by some of the 
most eminent lawyers and statesmen of our country, among 
whom may be mentioned Theophilus Parsons, William 
Pinckney, Roger B. Taney, Caleb Cushing, Edwin M. 
Stanton and William M. Evarts. 

The Solicitor-General is one of the important law officers 
of the government. He is appointed by the President to 
assist the Attorney-General in the performance of his 
duties. In case of a vacancy in the office of Attorney-Gen- 
eral or of his absence or disability, the Solicitor-General has 
power to exercise all the duties of that office. 
Agriculture. — The Department of Agriculture is of 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT BRANCHES 91 

comparatively recent creation. It was organized in the 
year 1862, and in 1889 the Secretary of Agriculture became 
a member of the Cabinet. The particular duty of this de- 
partment is to take all necessary steps for promoting the 
agricultural interests of the country, which constitute the 
larger portion of the wealth of our people. To this end it 
maintains numerous bureaus for investigating the habits 
of insects and birds that injure the crops and determines 
the best method for the farmer to employ in order to pro- 
tect himself from these pests. 

It studies the various diseases with which cattle and 
horses are afflicted, and ascertains the causes and best 
methods of treating these evils, and protects the public 
from the sale of diseased meat, sometimes causing whole 
herds of cattle to be slaughtered in order to prevent the 
spread of contagious diseases. 

The department also conducts numerous agricultural ex- 
periments, such as raising silk worms, growing sorghum 
and beets for the manufacture of sugar, and testing seeds, 
so that the best varieties may be distributed among the 
farmers. 

Weather Bureau. — The Weather Bureau, since the year 
1 89 1, has been a branch of this department. This bureau 
maintains several hundred stations located in various parts 
of the country, where meteorological observations are made 
daily, and upon them are based predictions as to the state 
of the weather for the ensuing twenty-four hours. The 
work of this bureau is exceedingly useful to the people, 
because thereby notice is given of the approach of storms 
likely to be dangerous to vessels and likely to affect im- 
portant commercial and agricultural interests. 

Labor. — The Department of Labor became a separate 
department in the year 1888, having been, prior to that 



92 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

time, a bureau of the Interior Department. The duties of 
this department are solely to collect facts and statistics 
upon industrial questions, such as wages, strikes, convict 
labor and industrial depressions ; therefore, it is not neces- 
sary to speak in detail of its workings. 

Other Executive Officers. — This completes the list of 
the important branches of the executive department. There 
are several others, such as the Inter- State Commerce Com- 
mission, the Civil Service Commission and the Office of the 
Librarian of Congress, whose duties have been described 
elsewhere, and still others, such as the Fish Commission, 
which makes scientific observations concerning the habits 
of fishes, their foods and the methods of capturing them, 
and also propagates and distributes to all parts of the coun- 
try such fishes as are suitable for food, and the Government 
Printing Office, which prints the numerous reports of the 
different branches of the government and publishes the pro- 
ceedings of Congress. The head of this office is appointed 
by the President and is called the Government Printer. 

After this brief survey of the branches of the executive 
department and the enormous amount of business trans- 
acted through them, the conclusion is readily reached that 
so far as the masses of the people are concerned, this de- 
partment, more than any of the others, represents the 
power of the government and the practical results of its 
workings. All of these departments are centralized in the 
President, who is directly responsible to the people for the 
manner in which he discharges the trusts imposed upon 
him. 



CHAPTER X. 
THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY. 

The history of our civil institutions has no more inter- 
esting and instructive part than that which relates to the 
origin, growth and development of our judicial system and 
its influence in shaping the destinies of our country. 

These judicial records contain accounts of the action and 
conduct of men individually and of social and political 
organizations under varying conditions. Sometimes the 
controversies arise from avarice and ambitious rivalry, 
sometimes prompted by the competition of trade, and at 
other times they emanate from political contentions in- 
volving discussions of principles of statecraft and interna- 
tional regulations of universal application. 

In ancient and mediaeval times, the courts of law were 
instruments of oppression and injustice quite as frequently 
as they were a protection to the rights of individuals, but 
in the judicial system of the United States we find that the 
framers of the Constitution secured results which had be- 
fore that time existed only in the theoretical and specula- 
tive writings of philosophers. 

By the creation of the Supreme Court there was effected 
a practically complete separation of the legislative, execu- 
tive and judicial departments of the government, a condi- 
tion to which we have now become so accustomed, as to 

(93) 



94 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

render it difficult for us to realize to what extent the few 
paragraphs of the Constitution producing this result have 
excited the admiration of political and philosophical stu- 
dents.* 

The Supreme Court. — So much has been written in 
praise of this institution of our government that it is diffi- 
cult to find language which will exceed in the extravagance 
of its terms the utterances of distinguished writers in Eu- 
rope and America upon this subject. In speaking of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, it has been said : 

"No product of government, either here or elsewhere, 
has ever approached it in grandeur. Within its appro- 
priate sphere it is absolute in authority. From its man- 
dates there is no appeal. Its decree is law. In dignity 
and moral influence it outranks all other judicial tribunals 
of the world. No court of either ancient or modern times 
was ever invested with such high prerogatives. Its jurisdic- 
tion extends over sovereign States, as well as the humblest 
individual. It is armed with the right, as well as the power, 
to annul in effect the statutes of a State whenever they are 
directed against the civil rights, the contracts, the currency 
or the intercourse of the people. 

"Secure in the tenure of its judges from the influence of 
politics and the violence of prejudice and passion, it pre- 
sents an example of judicial independence unattainable in 
any of the States and far beyond that of the highest court 
in England. Its judges are the sworn ministers of the 
Constitution and are the High Priests of Justice. Ac- 
knowledging no superior, and responsible to their con- 
sciences alone, they owe allegiance to the Constitution and 
to their own exalted sense of duty. No institution of 



♦See Bryce's American Commonwealth, Vol. I, Chap. 



THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 95 

purely human contrivance presents so many features calcu- 
lated to inspire both veneration and awe."* 

Notwithstanding what has been said as to the marvellous 
wisdom displayed by the framers of the Constitution in 
their creation of this system, it would be a mistake to sup- 
pose that they were guided solely by their own original 
ideas upon the subject. Their wisdom was displayed by 
the fortunate and harmonious manner in which they took 
advantage of all that was best in the judicial systems of 
the colonies and adopted every precaution necessary to 
protect the dignity and independence of the court. 

The Judicial System. — The judicial power is vested 
in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Con- 
gress may, from time to time, establish. Under the power 
thus given to establish courts, Congress has created the 
Circuit Court of Appeals, the Circuit Court and the Dis- 
trict Court, which, speaking generally, comprise the judi- 
cial system of the United States, but in addition to these 
there are also the Court of Claims, the Supreme Court of 
the District of Columbia and the Territorial Courts, each 
of which will be described in its proper place, and the 
Court of Private Land Claims for the adjudication of 
claims to land lying within the territory acquired by the 
United States from the Republic of Mexico. 

That judges may be secure in their tenure of office and 
free from all influences which would tend to hinder them in 
trie impartial discharge of their duties, it is provided that 
they shall hold their office during good behavior. This 
means that an appointment to the position of Judge of any 
of the United States courts is for life, provided the incum- 
bent properly performs the duties of his office. He can be 
removed from office by impeachment proceedings only. 

* Carson's History of the Supreme Court of the United States. 



96 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

The Constitution also provides that the judges shall receive 
for their services a compensation which shall not be dimin- 
ished during their continuance in office. Thus it appears 
that these two provisions place a judge of a Federal Court 
in an absolutely independent position, the first giving him 
practically a life tenure in office, and the second guarantee- 
ing him an income which cannot be diminished. 

The Federal Courts deal only with cases coming within 
the scope of the enumeration contained in the second sec- 
tion of the third article of the Constitution, and these 
courts must not be confused with the courts which form a 
part of the government of each of the States, in which the 
ordinary disputes between citizens are settled. 

Jurisdiction. — Briefly stated, the courts of the United 
States have jurisdiction of the following classes of cases: 

1. All cases arising under the Constitution, laws and 
treaties of the United States. 

2. All cases affecting ambassadors, public ministers and 
consuls. 

3. All cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. 

4. Controversies to which the United States shall be 
a party. 

5. Controversies between two or more States and be- 
tween a State and the citizens of another State and between 
citizens of different States.* 

6. Controversies between citizens of the same State 
claiming lands under grants of different States. 

7. Controversies between a State, or the citizens thereof, 
and foreign states, citizens or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers 
and consuls and those in which a State shall be a party, 

* The judicial power of the United States, although expressly extended to cases 
between a State and citizens of another State, has been modified by reason of the 
nth amendment to the Constitution. See page 105. 



THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 97 

the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction, by which is 
meant that such cases may be commenced in the Supreme 
Court. In all other cases, the action must be commenced 
in the lower courts, and the decision of the Supreme Court 
upon the question involved can be obtained only by appeal- 
ing from the decision of the inferior court; therefore, in 
these cases, the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction 
only. 

Criminal Cases.— Another paragraph of the third arti- 
cle of the Constitution provides that the trial of all crim- 
inal cases, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury, 
and that such trial shall be held in the State where the crime 
has been committed. This clause of the Constitution was 
designed for the protection of citizens in two particulars. 
It secured for all time the right of trial by jury in all crim- 
inal cases, a right which had often been withheld in former 
years by tyrannical kings of Great Britain and which the 
people of this country had come to prize most highly. It 
means simply that no one can be convicted of any crime 
unless he is found guilty by a jury composed of his fel- 
low-citizens, who are selected in the manner required by 
law, and all of whom must be absolutely unprejudiced 
toward the accused before entering upon the trial. 

This paragraph of the Constitution also protects the citi- 
zen who is accused of committing a crime from the injustice 
of being sent for trial to a distant place, where he may be 
unknown and friendless, and therefore deprived of the bene- 
fit of his previous good reputation in his own neighborhood, 
and where he will be involved in additional expense and 
trouble in making his defense. 

Organization of the Supreme Court. — The Supreme 
Court of the United States was organized pursuant to a 
law enacted by Congress in the year 1789, known as 



98 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

the Judiciary Act, and at first was composed of one Chief 
Justice and five Associate Justices. Since that time changes 
have been made in the organization of the court as necessity 
has required, and it is now composed of one Chief Justice 
and eight Associate Justices. All of these judges are ap- 
pointed by the President, and, with good behavior, hold 
their respective offices for life ; they can be removed by im- 
peachment proceedings only. The court holds daily ses- 
sions, Saturdays and Sundays excepted, in the capitol build- 
ing at Washington, commencing in October of each year 
and continuing until the month of May, when it adjourns 
until the ensuing October. 

During the first years of its existence, the Supreme Court 
had but little work to do, and for many years not more than 
twenty-five cases were pending before it in each year; but 
within the last half century the business of the court has 
increased enormously. At the present time it disposes of 
several hundred cases annually. The Supreme Court stands 
at the head of the judicial system, and its decisions are final, 

District Courts. — A systematic explanation of the Fed- 
eral judicial system requires that we next consider the 
District Courts, which form the lowest grade. To secure 
the administration of justice, the United States is divided 
into judicial districts, of which there are seventy-four at the 
present time, but this number is subject to change as Con- 
gress may think proper. In some cases the boundaries of a 
judicial district are identical with those of a State; in other 
cases, a State is divided into two or three districts. For 
example, Illinois is divided into two districts, while Maine 
constitutes a district by itself. In each of these districts a 
court is established and a judge appointed to preside over 
the same. 

The jurisdiction of the District Courts includes crimes 



THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 99 

committed upon the high seas, all suits brought by officers 
of the United States, causes of action arising under the 
postal laws, all civil cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
diction, suits brought by aliens for damages in violation of 
treaties or international laws, bankruptcy matters and a 
variety of other cases. 

Circuit Courts. — The next step in the formation of the 
judicial system is the grouping of these districts into nine 
circuits, the number being identical with the number of 
Supreme Court Judges. In each circuit a court, called the 
Circuit Court, is established, and a Circuit Judge is ap- 
pointed. For the purpose of holding this court, a justice of 
the Supreme Court is designated for each of these circuits, 
and he is required by law to visit his circuit at certain inter- 
vals. The Circuit Court may be held by the judge of the 
Circuit Court, by a justice of the Supreme Court, by the 
judge of any District Court in the circuit, or by any two of 
them, or by all of them together. 

The Circuit Courts have jurisdiction over all cases where 
the amount in dispute exceeds $500 and the parties to the 
controversy are citizens of different States, all suits arising 
under the patent and copyright laws, certain cases arising 
under the revenue law, and over many of the subjects which 
are within the jurisdiction of the District Courts. A com- 
plete enumeration of the matters over which Circuit Courts 
of the United States have jurisdiction would be of little in- 
terest or use to beginners in the study of government ; there- 
fore, it will not be attempted. 

Circuit Court of Appeals. — The Circuit Court of 
Appeals was created by act of Congress in 1891, for the 
purpose of relieving the Supreme Court from the work of 
considering appeals from the District and Circuit Courts in 
all cases except those in which the jurisdiction of the court 

Lore. 



100 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

is in issue, final sentences and decrees in prize cases, convic- 
tions of capital and otherwise infamous crimes, cases involv- 
ing constitutional questions and cases in which the con- 
struction of a treaty is involved. In all other cases appeals 
from the District and Circuit Courts must be taken to the 
Circuit Court of Appeals. 

The law creating this court also provides for the appoint- 
ment of an additional judge in each of the circuits having 
the same power as Circuit judges of the United States, and 
receiving the same salary. This additional appointment is 
necessary in order to enable the Court of Appeals to prop- 
erly perform its work without taking the time of the Circuit 
and District judges from the performance of their duties, as 
already defined by law. 

The Circuit Court of Appeals consists of three judges and 
the justice of the Supreme Court assigned to each circuit. 
The Circuit judges within the circuit and the several Dis- 
trict judges within the circuit are all competent to sit as 
judges of the Circuit Court of Appeals. A session of this 
court is held annually in the principal city of each district. 

Other Courts. — The government of the District of Co- 
lumbia is under the control of Congress, and, to administer 
justice in this District, Congress has created a Supreme 
Court, which has jurisdiction of all crimes and offenses com- 
mitted within the District, of all civil cases between parties, 
both or either of whom shall be a resident or found within 
the District, of all actions of a civil nature, of all seizures on 
land or water, and of all penalties or forfeitures made, aris- 
ing or accruing under the laws of the United States. 

Congress has also created Territorial Courts, which exer- 
cise a general jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters 
in the several Territories. The judges of these courts are 
appointed by the President, and, generally speaking, per- 






THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 101 

form duties similar to those of the judges of the various 
state courts. 

Besides the courts of justice which have already been de- 
scribed, there is a Court of Claims at Washington, whose 
duty it is to examine claims against the government for the 
payment of money in cases where there is a dispute. The 
creation of this court was a necessity, because no suit can be 
brought against the United States in any ordinary court. 
Nevertheless, there are numerous cases continually arising 
where justice requires that the claims of creditors of the 
government should be adjudicated and determined accord- 
ing to the rules of law, and to make suitable provision for 
this class of cases, the Court of Claims has been created. 



CHAPTER XL 
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

One of the fundamental principles of a democratic form 
of government, as enunciated by the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, is the right of the people, who are the source of 
all power, to alter the governmental requirements whenever 
it is necessary to do so, in order to accomplish more perfectly 
the objects for which the government exists. The Declara- 
tion of Independence also sets forth the right of the people 
to abolish a government which fails to protect its subjects 
in the enjoyment of their rights of life, liberty and the pur- 
suit of happiness. It was because the English government 
was destructive of these ends, that our forefathers deter- 
mined to institute a new government, laying its foundations 
upon principles which tend to protect the rights and ensure 
the safety and happiness of the people. 

How the Constitution May Be Amended. — The 
right of the people of the United States to alter the form of 
their government is secured to them by the provisions of 
the Constitution relating to the amendment of that instru- 
ment. Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed 
by Congress whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem 
it advisable, or by a convention called for the purpose of 
proposing amendments. It is the duty of Congress to call 
such convention on the application of the legislatures of 
two thirds of the several States. Each amendment thus far 

(102) 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 103 

made to the Constitution has been proposed by the first 
method. 

After an amendment has been proposed, it must be sub- 
mitted for approval to the legislatures of the several States, 
or to conventions to be called in each State, according as 
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by 
Congress. An amendment must be ratified by three fourths 
of the States before it can become a part of the Constitu- 
tion. All amendments to the Constitution have been rati- 
fied by the first method, no convention ever having been 
called, either for proposing or ratifying amendments. 

Two restrictions upon the power of amendment were im- 
posed by the Constitution — one, owing to the final settle- 
ment of the controversy concerning slavery, is no longer a 
matter of interest ; the other provides that no State without 
its consent shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the 
Senate.* 

Fifteen amendments to the Constitution have been made, 
although a larger number was considered during the period 
when the adoption of the Constitution was under discussion 
by the people of the several States. 

First Ten Amendments.— The first ten amendments 
were proposed in Congress during its first session, and went 
into effect December 15, 1 791. These amendments were 
adopted because the Constitution contained no Bill of 
Rights, such as is set forth in the constitutions of most of 
the States.** 

A Bill of Rights may be defined as a declaratory statute 
setting forth certain inalienable rights of the people, in the 
enjoyment of which they are to be forever protected by the 

♦See Article V of Constitution. 

**Bryce's American Commonwealth, Vol. I, page 27. Fiske's Civil Got- 
ernment, page 255. 



104 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

government, and thereby placing well denned restrictions 
upon the powers of the government and its officers. The 
term was first applied to the statute enacted by the English 
Parliament in the year 1689, containing the conditions, under 
which the crown of England was offered to William and 
Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, after the abdication 
and flight of King James II. These conditions were ac- 
cepted, and ever since that time the Bill of Rights has 
formed a part of the constitution of Great Britain. It has 
exercised a most important influence upon the political in- 
stitutions of England, because, since its enactment, every 
sovereign of England has been compelled to base his claim 
to the throne upon some act of Parliament, thus effectually 
disposing of claims to rulership by virtue of divine or hered- 
itary rights.* 

The first ten amendments correspond in their terms to 
some of the provisions of the Bill of Rights, just described, 
but it is generally conceded that the language of the amend- 
ments is more forcible and concise than that of the Bill of 
Rights. These amendments secure to the people the right 
of freedom of religion, of speech and of the press, the right 
to assemble and petition the government for a redress of 
grievances, and the right to keep and bear arms and to be 
secure in their persons, houses and property, from unreason- 
able arrests, searches and seizures. The quartering of 
troops in the houses of citizens in time of peace is forbidden. 
The right of trial by jury in criminal and civil cases is guar- 
anteed, and in case of capital crimes, no person can be held 
answerable except on a presentment or indictment of a 
grand jury. A person cannot be put in jeopardy more than 
once for the same offense, and cannot be compelled to be a 

*Green's History of the English People, Bk. VIII, Chap. III. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 105 

witness against himself in any criminal case. The taking of 
private property for public use without just compensation 
is prohibited, excessive bail cannot be demanded, and cruel 
and unusual punishment must not be inflicted. 

The theory upon which our government is based is em- 
phasized by the ninth amendment, which declares that still 
other rights are retained by the people, whether enumerated 
in the Constitution or not, and further by the tenth amend- 
ment, which reserves to the States or to the people all pow- 
ers not expressly delegated by the Constitution to the gen- 
eral government nor prohibited by it to the States. 

Eleventh Amendment.— The eleventh amendment was 
proposed in Congress in 1794, but was not in force until 
January 8, 1798. The circumstances which led to the adop- 
tion of this amendment are worthy of notice, because its 
provisions place an important restriction upon the judicial 
power of the Federal Government* and enable a State to 
repudiate its debts if so disposed. 

In the year 1793, a citizen of North Carolina brought a 
suit against the State of Georgia, relying upon Section 2 of 
Article III. of the Constitution, by which a controversy be- 
tween a State and a citizen of another State is included 
within the judicial power of the United States. The court 
decided in favor of the citizen of North Carolina, but the 
decision caused so much dissatisfaction that the eleventh 
amendment was enacted so as to prevent a State from being 
sued against its will.** 

Twelfth Amendment. — The twelfth amendment orig- 
inated with Alexander Hamilton. It was proposed by Con- 
gress in 1803 and went into effect in 1804. This amend- 

*See Sec. 2, Article III, of Constitution. 

**This was the case of Chisholm v. The State of Georgia. 2 Dallas Reports, 
page 419. 



106 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

ment modified the method of voting by the electors for 
President and Vice President.* 

Originally the ballots of the electors did not designate the 
name of the person voted for as President and Vice Presi- 
dent, respectively, but each elector wrote on his ballot the 
names of two persons, only one of whom could be a resident 
of the same State as the elector. The candidate having the 
largest number of votes, provided it was a majority of the 
whole number cast, was elected President, and the person 
having the next largest number was elected Vice President. 

No inconvenience occurred in the use of this plan in the 
first two presidential elections, because Washington was the 
only candidate for President, and was the unanimous choice 
of the people for that office, but in 1796 the election was 
contested. John Adams was the candidate of the Federal- 
ists and Thomas Jefferson of the Anti-Federalists or Re- 
publicans.** 

In those days the electors exercised some individual dis- 
cretion and independence in voting and were not bound to 
vote for their party candidates to the same extent as at 
present. There were dissensions in the Federalist party, 
which prevented some of the electors chosen by that party 
from voting for Thomas Pinckney, their candidate for Vice 
President.*** As a result of these conditions, John Adams 
was chosen President, while his most bitter political oppo- 
nent, Thomas Jefferson, was elected Vice President.**** 

At the next election in 1800 the defects of the system then 
in use were again apparent. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron 



*See Constitution, Article II, Sec. 1, Par. 3. 

**The Republican party of Jefferson's time must not be confused with the 
present party of that name. Jefferson is usually regarded as the founder of 
the present Democratic party. See Chapter XII. 

***Mcise's Life of Jefferson, page 173. 

****The vote was: Adams, 71; Jefferson, 68; Pinckney, 59; Burr, 30, and 
the rest scattering. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 107 

Burr were the candidates of the Republicans for President 
and Vice President, and each received an equal number of 
votes. There being no election by the electors, it devolved 
upon the House of Representatives to choose a President. 
So ardently was Jefferson hated by his political opponents 
that plans were formed by them and intrigues developed to 
prevent his election to the presidency, which at one time 
threatened the peace of the country. The controversy was 
finally settled by the election of Jefferson, but to prevent 
the recurrence of these dangers the twelfth amendment to 
the Constitution was adopted.* 

Thirteenth Amendment. — For the next sixty years 
no further amendment of the Constitution was found neces- 
sary, but with the close of the Civil War and the abolition of 
slavery in this country the necessity of embodying the re- 
sults of that struggle in the supreme law of the land caused 
the adoption of the thirteenth amendment, whereby neither 
slavery nor involuntary servitude is permitted to exist in the 
United States or any place subject to its jurisdiction. This 
amendment was proposed by Congress in February, 1865, 
and was promptly ratified by the requisite number of States, 
so that it went into effect in December of the same year. 

Fourteenth Amendment. — The fourteenth amendment 
was rendered necessary by the conditions which prevailed 
in the Southern States after the close of the Civil War, dur- 
ing what is known as the. Reconstruction Period. During 
that period, these States enacted laws which almost had the 
effect of again reducing the negroes to slavery by imposing 
upon them harsh conditions, with which they must comply 
in order to live within these States, and inflicting upon them 
severe penalties for the violation of labor contracts. These 



*Morse's Life of Jefferson, Chap. XII. 



108 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

States also voted pensions to Confederate soldiers and their 
families, and filled important State offices with former offi- 
cers of the Confederacy. Such acts as these displayed a 
temper and disposition toward the Federal Government 
which required governmental restraint. 

Accordingly the fourteenth amendment was proposed by 
Congress June 16, 1866, and submitted to the States for 
ratification. The amendment is lengthy and only the sub- 
stance of it can be stated. It was intended to protect the 
negroes in their rights of citizenship, and substantially de- 
fines what is meant by citizenship in the United States, and 
prohibits the States from abridging the rights of citizens. If 
the right to vote is denied to any qualified voter, a corre- 
sponding reduction is made in the State's representation in 
Congress, and certain classes of persons who had been lead 1 
ers in the Confederacy are made ineligible to hold national 
or state offices, until their disability has been removed by a 
vote of two thirds of each House of Congress. This amend i 
ment also secured the validity of the public debt of the 
United States, and forbade the recognition of any debt or 
liability incurred in aid of the Rebellion.* 

Tennessee was the only one of the seceding states which, 
promptly ratified this amendment, and, as a consequence, 
the Southern States were placed under military rule until 
such time as they saw fit to comply with certain conditions, 
among which was the ratification of this amendment. The 
fourteenth amendment went into effect July 28, 1868, having 
been ratified by the requisite number of States, including 
all of the seceding States except "Virginia, Mississippi and 
Texas. These three States were required to ratify the four- 



*See Andrews' History of the United States— Vol. IV, pages 190-197— for an 
account of the causes which led to the adoption of these amendments. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 109 

teenth and fifteenth amendments before they could resume 
their place in the Federal Union. 

Fifteenth Amendment. — The fifteenth amendment 
became operative March 30, 1870. It was designed to still 
further protect the negroes in exercising the right to vote, 
and needs no detailed explanation. 



CHAPTER XII. 
POLITICS IN A DEMOCRACY. 

The word politics, in its broadest sense, means the science 
of government. It deals with the question of statecraft and 
the regulation of the public affairs of a nation, the preserva- 
tion of its safety, peace and prosperity, the defense of its 
rights and territory from foreign control and conquest, and 
the increase of its own strength and resources. One who 
is well versed in this science is a politician in the highest 
sense of the word. The word politician, as just defined, is 
synonymous with that of statesman. 

Both of these words have another and a narrower mean- 
ing. In the latter sense, politics means the management of 
a political party, the conduct of elections, the contests of 
parties relating to public questions and the selection and 
advancement of candidates for public office. 

Viewing politics in this sense, the word politician means a 
man who is devoted to the advancement of himself and his 
associates in public office and who strives for the success of 
the political party to which he belongs. 

Both words have still another signification, which is quite 
commonly attached to them, especially by persons who do 
not understand the real meaning of the terms. In a bad 
sense politics means the artful or dishonest management of 
public affairs with a view to securing the success of a par- 
ticular candidate or party, regardless of the welfare of the 
nation or State. It signifies political trickery. In this case, 

(110) 



POLITICS IN A DEMOCRACY 111 

a politician means a man who makes it his principal business 
to be occupied with the management of political parties and 
who is ready to do anything which he believes to be for his 
own personal interest. 

Citizens living under a popular form of government 
should be interested in politics and public questions, that an 
enlightened public opinion may be created and maintained 
which will correct the faults of government, guide the acts 
of public officers and counteract the evils which are likely to 
result from the dishonest or incompetent management of 
public affairs. 

Discussion of political questions generally develops dif- 
ferences of opinion, even upon the simplest governmental 
propositions. This is followed by a union of those who 
think substantially alike upon questions at issue so as to 
secure the ascendency of their ideas and the election to 
public office of candidates who will carry out a particular 
political policy. In this way political parties are created 
and organized with acknowledged leaders and governed 
by well-defined rules in every state, city and municipality 
throughout the country. 

Political Parties and Their Origin.— Political par- 
ties are organizations of citizens, voluntarily formed in 
order to secure the success of particular candidates, and the 
triumph of certain party principles which are embodied in 
a statement called the party platform. 

Since the formation of our government, differences of 
opinion have existed among citizens upon governmental 
questions. Consequently the formation of political parties 
commenced with the first session of Congress held after the 
adoption of the Constitution, and the discussion of questions 
of taxation developed the issue upon which citizens divided. 
We have seen that the failure of government under the 



112 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

Articles of Confederation was due largely to the fact that the 
general government 'had no power to raise money by taxa- 
tion. Accordingly, one of the first problems which pre- 
sented itself to the new government was to devise a system 
of taxation which would secure sufficient revenue to meet 
the expenses of government, and at the same time would not 
prove too burdensome to an impoverished people. 

Hamilton's Measures. — Alexander Hamilton was the 
first Secretary of the Treasury and upon him developed the 
duty of solving the problem. The task was a delicate one, 
owing to the fact that many people had seriously opposed 
the adoption of the Constitution, because they feared that 
taxation under the Federal Government would be excessive 
and ruinous to citizens already overburdened with local 
taxes. 

The methods of taxation introduced by Hamilton were 
substantially the same as those employed at the present 
time — namely, duties on imported goods and internal reve- 
nue taxes upon a few articles of domestic production, such 
as whisky and tobacco. The system of indirect taxation, by 
levying a duty on imported goods, excited no opposition on 
the part of the people, because it is a tax which is paid in the 
form of an enhanced price placed upon the imported goods. 
This method of taxation has been constantly in use as a 
means of raising a national revenue, solely because the peo- 
ple who pay the taxes do not realize that they are doing so, 
and consequently make no complaint of the burdens of 
taxation. 

The system of internal revenue taxation devised by Ham- 
ilton provoked serious opposition from the outset, which 
culminated in the Whisky Rebellion in Western Pennsyl- 
vania. This insurrection was quelled by the Federal army, 



POLITICS IN A DEMOCRACY 113 

and thereafter the opposition adopted the more reasonable 
methods of discussion to accomplish its objects. 

The measures recommended to Congress by Alexander 
Hamilton covered a variety of subjects bearing upon the 
policy to be pursued by the new government, such as the- 
raising and collection of revenue, estimates of the income 
and expenditures of the government, the regulation of the 
currency, navigation laws, the Post Office department and 
the public lands. Dealing more particularly with the finan- 
cial policy of the government, he devised the system of 
taxation already mentioned, made an exhaustive report upon 
the public credit, wherein he prepared a plan for refunding 
•and finally paying the entire indebtedness of the United 
States, as well as the debts contracted by the different States 
during the Revolutionary War. 

Opposition to Hamilton's Policy. — The reports which 
Hamilton, in a comparatively short time, presented to 
Congress generally received the approval of that body, 
and, embodied in laws, formed a comprehensive system of 
public policy.* These measures were not adopted with- 
out serious discussion, which frequently developed bitter 
opposition, but this debate did not at first cause the for- 
mation of two well-defined and compact political parties, 
although such was the final result of the controversy. 

During Washington's administration the leadership of 
those opposed to the measures advocated by Hamilton came 
to be centered in Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State. It 
is difficult to say exactly when this took place, but the differ- 
ences of opinion between these two statesmen began to be 
generally known in the winter of 1791-92. 

Express and Implied Powers.— The opposition to 
the public policy of Hamilton was based chiefly upon the 



*Lodge's Life of Hamilton, Chapter V. 



114 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

argument that Congress did not have power under the Con- 
stitution to enact the measures which he recommended. 
The government of the United States possesses only those 
specific powers which are enumerated in the Constitution. 
.When it is first proposed that the government shall exercise 
a particular power, the question is always raised as to 
whether or not the provisions of the Constitution will per- 
mit. 

Thus, when Hamilton recommended the establishment 
of a national bank, his opponents urged that the power 
of establishing and maintaining such an institution was not 
granted to the government by the Constitution. The sup- 
porters of Hamilton met this argument by asserting that in 
addition to the powers expressly enumerated in the Consti- 
tution, the government has certain implied powers. In 
support of their contention, they cited the provision of the 
Constitution, which gives to Congress authority to make 
all laws necessary and proper for carrying into effect the 
powers delegated to the general government, which is 
sometimes called the Elastic Clause of the Constitution. 

Federalists and Anti-Federalists. — The discussion be- 
tween Hamilton and his opponents, led by Jefferson and 
Madison, resulted in the formation of two political parties, 
representing two theories as to the proper construction of 
the Constitution. One of these parties, of which Hamilton 
was the leading representative, favored a "loose" construc- 
tion of the Constitution, giving to the government extensive 
implied powers. This was called the Federalist party. The 
members of the other party contended for a "strict" con- 
struction of the Constitution, allowing the general govern- 
ment to exercise only those powers which had been granted 
to it in specific terms. Jefferson was the acknowledged 



POLITICS IN A DEMOCRACY 115 

leader of this party. At first it was called the Anti-Federal- 
ist party, but within a few years it assumed the name Repub- 
lican. 

Successive Party Names.— Since the days of Jefferson 
and Hamilton the American people have been divided into 
two great parties along practically the same lines, although 
the names of the parties have been changed from time to 
time. The party founded by Hamilton was called Federal- 
ist until 1828, when for four years it was designated as the 
National Republican. In 1832 it became known as the 
Whig party, a name which endured until 1854, when it be- 
gan to be called the Republican party, the name which it 
bears to-day. The party of which Thomas Jefferson was 
the founder continued to use the name Republican until 
about 1828, and from that time to the present it has been 
called the Democratic party. 

Each of these parties, when in power, has been more or 
less inconsistent in applying to actual governmental 
problems the fundamental principles on which their re- 
spective organizations were based, but the history of our 
country shows that for the most part the differences between 
them may be traced to the original controversy between 
Hamilton and Jefferson. 

The study of the two great political parties of the present 
day is divided into two branches — the party organization 
and the nominating conventions. 

Party Organization. — The control of party affairs is 
vested in different committees, the members of which are 
chosen by the party through its representatives assembled in 
convention. The most important committee is the National 
Committee, which is made up of one representative from 
each of the States and Territories. This committee repre- 
sents the party in all national matters, attends to its inter- 



116 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

ests in presidential and congressional elections and calls to- 
gether the National Convention, designating the time and 
place for its meeting. 

Each party also has a State Committee, which, in some 
States, is composed of a representative from each county, 
and in others of a representative from each congressional 
district. This committee has general control of the affairs 
of the party throughout the State and calls together the 
State Conventions. 

In the same way, each party has a County Committee in 
every county. In every political division of the State, in- 
cluding cities, towns, villages, wards, congressional and 
legislative districts, there is a committee which looks after 
the interests of the party which it represents in all political 
matters within its jurisdiction. 

Generally speaking, political committees are charged with 
the duty of promoting the interests of their respective par- 
ties at all elections. They must raise the money with which 
to pay necessary expenses, see that all voters belonging to 
the party are registered, so that they can vote on election 
day, arrange for meetings at which their candidates can ad- 
dress the public, print and distribute such literature as will 
be beneficial to the party and its candidates, and in every 
way promote the interests committed to their care. 

Nominating Conventions. — All candidates for office are 
selected by nominating conventions, composed of delegates 
representing the different sections of the country, State, 
county, or city, as the case may be. For example, candi- 
dates for President and Vice President are nominated by the 
National Convention of each political party. A National 
Convention meets every four years. It is composed of dele- 
gates from all the States, each State sending twice as many 
delegates as it has representatives in the national Senate 



POLITICS IN A DEMOCRACY 117 

and House of Representatives. The National Convention 
frames and adopts a declaration of party principles called 
the party platform, and elects the members of the National 
Committee for the ensuing four years. 

State conventions meet as often as an election for state 
officers occurs. They are composed of delegates from the 
different counties of the State, the number of delegates from 
each county being dependent upon the number of votes 
cast for the party candidates at the last preceding general 
election. State conventions nominate candidates for State 
officers, adopt a party platform and provide for the election 
of a State Committee. 

The same principles are applied in selecting the commit- 
tees and holding the conventions in each of the political 
subdivisions into which the State is divided, so that 
throughout the entire country each party has a series of 
committees, each of which acts independently within its 
own territory, but which, taken together, constitute a com- 
plete and systematic organization. 

Primaries. — Delegates to the National Convention are 
generally chosen by the State conventions of the respective 
States, but delegates to all other conventions are selected 
by the members of the party which they represent, assem- 
bled in a mass-meeting called a caucus, or at elections held 
in the various precincts or election districts. Such an elec- 
tion is called primary and, generally speaking, it is held in 
the manner and under the conditions imposed by the elec- 
tion laws of the various States. 

By this method, every voter can participate in the election 
of delegates to the various nominating conventions and, 
through these delegates, has a voice in the election of can- 
didates for every office within the gift of the people. 

It is the duty of every good citizen, who is qualified to 



118 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

vote, to take part in primary elections and thereby help to 
secure the nomination of worthy candidates. 

It is the duty of every political party to make strenuous 
efforts to educate its members upon political subjects, to the 
end that they may comprehend the purpose and intent of 
the national and State Constitutions, as well as the spirit of 
the laws which give effect to their provisions. 

END OF PART ONE. 



PART II. 

Government of Michigan. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
EARLY GOVERNMENT. 

In our study of the civil institutions of the United States 
we have seen that, to know fully the history of their origin 
and growth, we must commence our investigation in remote 
periods of the past, long before the discovery of this conti- 
nent, when men first began to realize that governments were 
but the creations of the people, and that all should partici- 
pate in governmental affairs. 

We have learned that the principles of representative gov- 
ernment were first applied in the small German and Scandi- 
navian communities of Northern Europe, that they were 
transplanted to England by the Anglo-Saxon invaders, and 
that after centuries of tyranny and misrule they came into 
recognition as a result of the struggle between Henry III. 
and his barons under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, 
Earl of Leicester. 

Several hundred years afterward, similar principles were 
brought into use in the cabin of the Mayflower, when the 
Pilgrim Fathers signed their names to the compact which 
formed the basis for the government of the struggling co! 
ony of Plymouth. 

In the same manner, to understand the local govern- 
ing 



120 STATE GOVERNMENT 

ment of the State of Michigan, and to appreciate the the- 
ories upon which it is based, we must commence our study 
at a period long prior to the date of its first settlement, and 
learn how these institutions came into use in other locali- 
ties, and, being found suitable for the government of a free 
and enlightened people, were transplanted from the older 
communities of New England and the South to the pioneer 
settlements of our own State. 

The results of the centuries of struggle for popular gov- 
ernment carried on by our Anglo-Saxon and English fore- 
fathers finally became the heritage of the citizens of Michi- 
gan as well as those of Massachusetts or Virginia. All 
that has been said relating to the origin and development of 
the distinctive features of our government is directly ap- 
plicable to the civil institutions of Michigan, as they exist 
to-day. This will become apparent, when we consider, in 
a subsequent chapter, by whom and under what conditions 
its local institutions were formed, and the circumstances 
which shaped their subsequent development. 

In addition to these lines of study, the early history of 
Michigan has distinctive features, not to be found in the 
records of its sister States, and giving it a special interest 
to students of historical and political science. 

Its territory has been successively under the control of 
the three great nations of France, England, and the United 
States, thus subjecting its inhabitants to greater changes 
in governmental institutions than have been experienced 
by the people of any other State in the Union. Its history 
in those early days of French and English rule is replete 
with romance and adventure, making the narrative one of 
intense interest to the reader, but the record discloses that 
the early settlers of the State did not give to it civil insti- 
tutions of a permanent character. In this respect, the his- 



EARLY GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 121 

tory of Michigan presents a marked contrast to that of 
the older States, whose first settlers were men of such 
character and discernment that they succeeded in laying 
the foundations of a political system which has endured 
to the present day. 

The era of political progress and material development 
in Michigan did not commence until immigration from 
the New England States and from New York became gen- 
eral, and the impress made by the monarchical rule of 
France and England was effaced. 

Until the people became inspired with the love of free 
institutions and the desire for local self-government, which 
always characterizes an ambitious and self-respecting citi- 
zenship, the progress of the State was slow, and its develop- 
ment was retarded. The story of the civil government of 
Michigan during the century in which it was under the 
control of France and of England is briefly told. 

Early French Settlements. — The State of Michigan 
forms a part of the vast and indefinitely bounded terri- 
tory which was known as New France in the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries. The earliest settlements in the 
State were made by the French, who explored almost the 
entire territory between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. 
Under the leadership of Champlain, Marquette, Joliet, 
Cadillac, and others, colonies were founded at Mackinac, 
Detroit, St. Ignace, St. Joseph, and other places. 

In their attempts at colonizing the New World, the 
French were actuated by two motives. One was the con- 
version of the natives to Christianity, and the other, the 
promotion of the fur trade; consequently, the controlling 
elements in these new settlements were the Jesuit mission- 
aries and the traders. 

Neither of these elements contributed to the growth of 



122 STATE GOVERNMENT 

the colony, but for different reasons. The missionaries 
did not care to have the population increased by immigra- 
tion from Europe, nor did they care to have the customs of 
civilized life introduced, because they feared that the In- 
dians, when they once came in contact with the vices of 
civilization, would be less amenable to the precepts of re- 
ligion. The fur traders did not wish the country to become 
settled, because with the advent of colonists in large num- 
bers, bent upon tilling the soil and developing the resources 
of the country, the forests would necessarily disappear, 
and with their disappearance the business of the fur trad- 
ers would be gone. 

In addition to these conditions which hindered the ma- 
terial development of the territory, the well recognized 
incapacity of the French government to carry on schemes 
of colonization with success contributed to the same end". 
Historians generally agree that the French have not been 
as successful as the English in the management of col- 
onies, and assign as the reason for their failure, the unwil- 
lingness of that nation to permit colonists to share in the 
administration of public affairs, and the restrictions which 
it placed upon the civil and religious liberties of the in- 
dividual.* 

The French controlled the country for about ninety years, 
from the founding of the settlement at the Straits of Mack- 
inac in 1670 until the conquest by the English in 1760, 
although the territory was not finally ceded to the English 
until the treaty between England and France, concluded 
on February 10, 1763. This treaty ended the French and 
Indian War, and as one of its results, Canada was ceded to 
Great Britain, thereby ending the rule of France in that 
part of the continent. 



* Cooley's History of Michigan, Chapter I. 



EARLY GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 123 

During the ninety years of French rule, the government 
had been arbitrary, the principal officer being a governor- 
general, appointed by the King of France, who exercised all 
the functions of government without restraint. During 
these years no progress had been made in developing the 
magnificent natural resources of the land, the people had 
remained in a dependent condition, and, with the excep- 
tion of the settlement at Detroit, a few missions and trad- 
ing posts were the only evidences of civilization. 

Fifty years later, the arrival of a few settlers, imbued 
with the principles of the New England Town Meeting, 
and seeking to establish homes for themselves and their 
families, contributed more to the political and material 
development of Michigan in a few years than was accom- 
plished during the entire period of French control. 

Under English Rule. — But little need be said con- 
cerning the government of Michigan while it was under 
British control, for while the rule of Great Britain lasted 
some thirty years, it possessed no features of sufficient merit 
to be embodied in the permanent government which was 
afterwards established. 

For the first ten years of the English occupation, the 
government was military in form. The governor-general 
of Canada was nominally the head of the system, but, 
owing to the great distance from the seat of government, 
and the difficulty of communication between the capital and 
the settlements, the officer in command at Detroit was the 
real ruler of the territory. Military courts were estab- 
lished, in which all kinds of controversies, both civil and 
criminal, were settled summarily. Appeals were useless, 
because if the facts ever reached the responsible head of 
the government, they received but slight attention from him, 
as he was busy with matters of more importance to him 



124 STATE GOVERNMENT 

than the affairs of a few Frenchmen, half-breeds, and In- 
dians, residing hundreds of miles distant, in an almost in- 
accessible part of the wilderness. 

The military government of the English was distasteful 
to the French settlers, because it was just as arbitrary, ir- 
responsible, and uncertain as that which had preceded, and 
in addition, it was the government provided by the con- 
querors, which is always disliked by the conquered. As a 
consequence, many of the settlers left the territory, some 
returning to France, and others emigrating to Louisiana. 

It was not the policy of the English to strive to increase 
the population of the territory and develop its resources, 
because by so doing the lucrative fur trade would be ruined, 
and with the development of a prosperous agricultural col- 
ony, the citizens would be less dependent upon the mother 
country. The future of Michigan had been dismal enough 
under French rule, but the outlook was not brightened by 
the substitution of English military despotism. 

The Quebec Act. — Just before the outbreak of the 
Revolutionary War, the English government felt the neces- 
sity of doing something to conciliate the Canadian settle- 
ments, so that the dissatisfaction then existing in the col- 
onies on the Atlantic coast might not be communicated to 
that province. 

Accordingly, the Quebec Act was passed by the English 
Parliament, but not without serious objections, because it 
gave to the Canadians religious liberties which the King of 
England did not dare to grant to his subjects in England 
and Ireland. By this law, the free exercise of the Catholic 
religion was allowed, and the clergy were given all the 
rights and privileges which had formerly been bestowed 
upon them by the French King. The law also provided a 
scheme of civil government, with which we are not par- 



EARLY GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 125 

ticularly concerned, because its provisions, so far as they 
related to the people of Michigan, were nullified by the 
Revolutionary War. 

The most important feature of it to Americans was the 
provision by which the boundary of the province was ex-, 
tended as far South as the Ohio River, thus indicating the 
intention of the British Government to take away territory 
from the rebellious colonies of Massachusetts, Virginia, 
New York, and Connecticut, and attach it to the loyal prov- 
ince of Canada. This scheme was frustrated by the efforts 
of a small band of patriotic and adventurous Virginians. 

The Virginia Conquest. — In the year 1778, George 
Rogers Clark, acting under a commission from Patrick 
Henry, who was then Governor of Virginia, assembled a 
small force of less than two hundred men, and undertook 
the invasion of the territory north of the Ohio River. His 
efforts were crowned with success. After a difficult march 
of many hundred miles through an unbroken wilderness, 
he attacked the garrison at Kaskaskia, and celebrated the 
4th of July of that year by capturing the post. The set- 
tlements at Cahokia and Vincennes quickly yielded to his 
vigorous campaign, and he organized the entire territory 
as a Virginia county. 

While Clark and his men did not venture so far north 
as Detroit, the results of his heroic achievements were felt 
in that locality, because by his invasion the sovereignty of 
Great Britain over the territory between the Great Lakes 
and the Ohio River was destroyed. This enabled the 
American Commissioners, who negotiated the treaty of 
peace at the close of the Revolutionary War, to claim suc- 
cessfully that the northern boundary of our country was 
the chain of the Great Lakes instead of the Ohio River. 
Therefore, it may be asserted with safety that Michigan, 



126 STATE GOVERNMENT 

as well as other States, owe their places in the Union to 
the bravery and wisdom of George Rogers Clark and his 
band of gallant Virginians. 

Michigan Becomes Part of the United States. — 
With the close of the Revolutionary War, Michigan became 
a part of the United States, but for many years afterward 
British garrisons remained at Detroit and other points in 
the Northwest Territory. It had been expected that upon 
the conclusion of the treaty of peace, possession of these 
settlements would be yielded to the United States, but the 
British government was reluctant to withdraw its garri- 
sons from these points, hoping that circumstances might 
arise which would enable them to assert their sovereignty 
anew in the territory. 

The inefficiency of our general government under the 
Articles of Confederation gave some encouragement to 
these hopes, but with the adoption of the Constitution, more 
vigorous measures were employed, and on July n, 1796, 
the flag of Great Britain was lowered at Detroit, and in its 
place the emblem of the American Republic was unfurled. 
Michigan then came under the jurisdiction of the United 
States, and its people received the benefits of the govern- 
ment provided by the Ordinance of 1787. After more than 
a century of restriction, the inhabitants of Michigan could 
now look forward to the enjoyment of political freedom 
and the blessings of liberty. 

Before entering upon a consideration of the government 
of Michigan as a part of the Northwest Territory, and the 
subsequent development of its local governmental institu- 
tions, it is necessary to study the organization of the New 
England Town, and of the Virginia County, as these two 
institutions have been largely instrumental in shaping the 



EARLY GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 127 

civil affairs of Michigan as well as many other States, par- 
ticularly those relating to local government. 

Local government ordinarily means not only the gov- 
ernment of the town, village, or city, but includes also 
county government. The New England Town furnished 
the model for the government of nearly all municipalities in 
the early days, while the county system was developed more 
completely in Virginia. Both of these systems were im- 
ported by the early settlers of Michigan and formed the 
basis of the system adopted for the regulation of local 
affairs. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWN. 

The New England town and its annual meeting deserve 
a place in our study, because their influence in shaping the 
local government of Michigan has been potent and beneficial. 
This institution is, in the opinion of all writers upon the 
subject of civil government, the most perfect example of a 
government by the people that can be found in the political 
history of any nation, and the town meeting, as it existed 
in the early days and still exists in some New England 
communities, has been a nursery of patriotism, a school for 
the education of citizens and a safeguard for the preserva- 
tion of the liberties of the people. 

To understand fully the important part which the New 
England town has played in the political development of 
the State of Michigan, and how its essential features have 
been impressed upon the local government of that State, we 
must know in detail how it came into existence, for what 
purposes, and understand its leading characteristics. 

Settlement of New England. — We have learned from 
the study of the history of our country that the early settlers 
of Massachusetts and the colonies which they formed were, 
in many respects, different from those of Virginia, Delaware, 
Georgia and others of the original colonies, to which fact is 
due, in a measure, the difference in the local institutions 
which they founded. Hence it becomes important to con- 
sider briefly the character and motives of the early settlers 

(128) 



THE NEW ENGLAND TOWN 129 

of New England and the conditions under which they 
lived, because therein will be found the reasons which 
prompted the construction and promoted the growth of 
their political system. 

The principal reason which impelled the pioneers of Mas- 
sachusetts to leave their homes in England and seek an abid- 
ing place in a wilderness was their desire to pursue with- 
out restriction their own ideas as to church government and 
religious worship. In England they had been under re- 
straint in respect to these matters, and having become dis- 
satisfied with the forms and ceremonies of the English 
church, and being prevented by the civil officers from car- 
rying out their own ideas in these particulars, they deter- 
mined to seek a home where they could do as they pleased 
without fear of molestation from church or king. 

Church Government. — They believed that the govern- 
ment of the church should be conducted by the members of 
the organization, and not in accordance with the dictates of 
the king or high church officials, and that religious worship 
should be simple in its forms and devoid of rites and cere- 
monies. They were students of the Bible and found in its 
lessons a guide for their daily life in their business and so- 
cial relations. Their pastor was not only the person who 
expounded the gospel for their edification on Sunday, but 
he was also the man to whom the entire community looked 
for guidance in worldly as well as spiritual things. 

Accordingly the immigration to New England was not 
one of individuals or families, but it was a movement of 
church congregations led by the pastors. These people set- 
tled in communities composed of individuals having the 
same ideas upon religious subjects and desirous of being 
under the leadership of the same pastor. 



130 STATE GOVERNMENT 

The Township.— The district in which they located was 
called a township, or town, that being the name to which 
they had been accustomed in England. The town was ir- 
regular in shape, there being no general system of surveys, 
and its limits were determined by the size of the community 
and the needs of the inhabitants. It was comparatively 
small in territory and compact in its settlement. 

There were good reasons for all of these peculiarities. 
The individual holdings of land were small, because the 
climate and soil were such as to prevent raising those crops 
which require large areas, like cotton, wheat or rice, and 
each family needed only a small tract of land as compared 
with the requirements of a southern planter or a western 
farmer. Another reason for the compactness of the com- 
munity was the danger from the attacks of hostile Indians 
and the necessity of providing for a common defense, and 
still another, and perhaps to them the most important of all, 
was the desire to have a common place of worship and 
to be under the ministrations of the same spiritual leader. 

Therefore we find these communities arranged so that the 
church may be as nearly as possible in the center of the 
population, and close by it was located the blockhouse or 
wooden fort in which the people could take refuge in case 
of an Indian attack. Sometimes the same building was 
both church and blockhouse, and constituted the defense of 
the people against both spiritual and physical foes. A little 
later, we find in a similarly central location another build- 
ing destined to have a most important influence upon the 
future of the country — the schoolhouse. The Pilgrim Fath- 
ers were strong believers in the necessity of general educa- 
tion, but for reasons which would seem strange if advanced 
at the present day. The community was essentially re- 
ligious, and the earliest school law enacted in this country 



THE NEW ENGLAND TOWN 131 

provided for the establishment of a school, so that the ris- 
ing generation might read and understand the Bible, and so 
be protected from the machinations of " that old deluder, 
Satan," whose one chief project was " to keep men from 
the knowledge of the Scriptures." 

It would be interesting and instructive to go further into 
the details of life in one of the early New England towns, 
but enough has been said to show the leading character- 
istics of the community. 

The Town Meeting. — The same ideas which con- 
trolled in church government were applied to temporal af- 
fairs, and therefore the civil government was administered 
by a meeting of all the male inhabitants of the town over 
twenty-one years of age. This meeting was regularly held 
once a year in the early spring time, usually in the month 
of March, and was called the town meeting. In this meet- 
ing every member had an equal voice and was at liberty to 
make motions and offer resolutions and take part in the 
discussion of any and all questions under consideration, 
such as the levying of taxes, the election of officers and 
the expenditure of public money. 

Town Officers. — Selectmen. — The principal town offi- 
cers were the Selectmen, usually three in number, but some- 
times five or seven, according to the size of the town. These 
officers, as their title shows, were men selected at the town 
meeting to administer the government of the community 
and to carry out the acts and resolutions of the people as 
expressed by the proceedings of the town meeting. 

As the time for the town meeting approached, the Select- 
men issued their warrant, or call, for the meeting, which 
was posted in the most conspicuous places throughout the 
town and designated the time and place for holding the meet- 
ing. On the appointed day the meeting was called to order 



132 STATE GOVERNMENT 

by the Clerk, who read the warrant issued by the Select- 
men. The meeting then proceeded to elect a presiding of- 
ficer, called the Moderator, and transacted its business in 
accordance with the usual parliamentary rules which govern 
public metings. 

At these meetings, officers were elected for the ensuing 
year, taxes were levied, provision was made for public 
works, such as the improvement or construction of high- 
ways and bridges and the maintenance of schools and alms- 
houses. 

The Selectmen were the principal offiers elected, and it 
was their duty to execute the mandates of the town meeting 
and to enforce the ordinances governing the community. 
They governed the town during the intervals between the 
town metings, and acted as assessors of taxes, overseers of 
the poor, supervisors of highways and bridges, and in fact 
constituted the executive branch of the local government. 

Clerk. — The Town Clerk was an officer of great import- 
ance. It was his duty to keep the records of the town 
meetings and of the meetings of the Selectmen, as well as a 
register of births, deaths, marriages and the location of 
highways, public surveys and other matters which are re- 
quired to be recorded. 

Treasurer. — A Town Treasurer was also elected, who 
received all money belonging to the town, such as tax col- 
lections and license fees, and paid it out as ordered by the 
Selectmen. 

School Committee. — The management of the public 
school was entrusted to a School Committee consisting usu- 
ally of three members. This committee determined how 
much money was needed for the support of the school, de- 
cided upon the location and erection of the school building, 
employed the teachers, prescribed the studies to be pur- 



THE NEW ENGLAND TOWN 133 

sued, selected the textbooks to be used, made frequent visits 
to the school and guarded its interests in every way. The 
people attached great importance to the education of the 
young, and the persons selected for the administration of so 
sacred a trust were chosen with a special view to their 
fitness to perform their duties. 

Other Officers. — Other officers selected at the town meet- 
ing were Constables, who served writs issued by the courts ; 
Poundkeepers, who had charge of the yards where stray 
animals were kept; Fence Viewers, whose duty it was to 
settle disputes as to the location of boundary lines and fences 
between neighbors; Surveyors of Lumber and Sealers of 
Weights and Measures, who examined the scales and meas- 
ures in use in the community, so that none might be de- 
frauded by the use of false weights and incorrect measures. 

There were also other officers having special duties to per- 
form, but enough have been enumerated to show that in the 
days of the town meeting the people in a body elected every 
officer to whom public duties were entrusted. There were 
no appointive offices, and the persons chosen for the re- 
spective positions were answerable only to the people for 
the manner in which they performed their duties. 

Influence of the Town Meeting. — Such, in brief, 
was the form of government which originally existed in all 
the New England communities and still exists unimpaired 
in many sections which have refused to abandon it for more 
pretentious governmental methods. In these meetings, all 
qualified persons took part and attendance was compulsory, 
failure to attend being punishable by fine. It was a complete 
exemplification of a government " of the people, for the 
people, and by the people." Its educational value to the 
citizens taking part in these deliberations was great, for in 
these meetings the humblest and poorest citizen had an 



134 STATE GOVERNMENT 

equal voice with wealthy and educated men in framing 
measures of public interest. All were on an equal basis, 
and the habits thus cultivated of giving personal attention 
to public affairs, of taking part in debate and giving ex- 
pression to individual ideas, however crude, were of ines- 
timable value in forming the characters of the citizens."' 

The Town of Boston. — Probably the best and most 
readily accessible example of what may be accomplished in 
the way of government by town meeting is to be found in 
the public records of the town of Boston, covering a period 
of about one hundred and eighty years from the organiza- 
tion of the town to the year 1822. At the last mentioned 
date, the town had a population of about 40,000 inhabitants, 
and the town meetings were so large as to be unwieldy and 
unmanageable. Therefore, the people abandoned this plan 
of government and obtained from the Massachusetts legis- 
lature a city charter, under which its public affairs were no 
longer managed by the body of the people, but by repre- 
sentatives chosen by them. 

For the first one hundred years the record consists of 
details relating to municipal questions, such as the loca- 
tion of streets, the appropriation of lands for burial pur- 
poses, a discussion of educational matters and the levying of 
taxes; but about the year 1761 a change is to be noted, and 
from that time the record becomes more and more inter- 
esting, being enlivened with numerous addresses to the 
King and Parliament, and protests against unwarrantable 
assumptions of power and authority by the royal officers. 

In fact, the town meeting of Boston was regarded by 
English sympathizers as a hotbed of treason to the King 
and the town of Boston, as a political center, was the par- 

*A graphic and interesting account of the proceedings of a New England town 
meeting is contained in Chapter XXIII of Hosmer's Life of Samuel Adams, Ameri- 
can Statesmen series. 



THE NEW ENGLAND TOWN 135 

ticular object of hatred on the part of the royalists, because 
from these meetings emanated the discussion of those doc- 
trines which afterward, embodied in the Declaration of In- 
dependence, resulted in the emancipation of the colonies 
from the rule of Great Britain.* 

The Unit of Representation. —We have thus far con- 
sidered the town meeting as a means of local government^ 
but it performed another function equally important as a 
part of the scheme of representative government. The New 
England town was the unit of representation. When the 
people came to take part in the wider government, which 
controlled the affairs of the entire colony and afterward of 
the State of Massachusetts, they did so through the medium 
of representatives elected by the citizens of the various 
towns, who, in the aggregate, formed the General Assembly, 
or legislative body. It was also the unit for distributing 
the assessment of taxes — that is to say, having ascertained 
the amount necessary to be raised by taxation for public 
purposes, the General Assembly apportioned this amount 
among the various towns in proportion to their wealth and 
population. 

The system of government by township, the origin of 
which, in this country, has been briefly described, has been 
impressed upon the local government of a very large num- 
ber of States of the Union, whenever emigrants from the 
New England States have had a hand in framing the polit- 
ical institutions of the newly created State. The principal 
features of this system are preserved even in communities 
made up of citizens of foreign birth and extraction, who 
have readily adopted it as being best fitted for carrying out 
the principles of a democratic form of government. 

*Hosmer's Life of Samuel Adams, Chapter I. 



CHAWER XV. 
THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY. 

Another typical institution, which has had great influence 
in shaping the development of the political institutions of 
the State of Michigan, was the Virginia county, as it existed 
in the days prior to the Revolution. All writers are agreed 
that the various forms of local government prevailing in 
the United States have been the growth of either the town- 
ship system, derived from the New England colonies, or the 
county system, which was first developed in the colony of 
Virginia. 

The Origin of the County. — The study of the county 
in its origin enables us to distinguish between those insti- 
tutions which are directly traceable to the township form 
of government on the one hand and the county system on 
the other. 

The county, like the township, was of English origin, 
and was, in the first instance, used to designate the portions 
of England in which the early inhabitants dwelt. This is 
plainly shown by many of the county names which still 
exist in England. For example, the County of Essex was 
originally the home of the East Saxons, and the County of 
Middlesex was the abode of the middle Saxons. 

Those who have read English history will remember that 
still another German tribe invaded England called the 
Angles. These people and the Saxons were of similar orig- 
in, and the term " Anglo-Saxon " is used to designate the 

(136) 



THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY 137 

union of these tribes. From the Angles was derived the 
name of England, and after their settlement they were di- 
vided into two tribes known as " North Folk " and " South 
Folk," from which originated the two county names of Nor- 
folk and Suffolk. All these county names were imported 
to this country by the early settlers and one or more of 
them can be found in use to designate either a county or a 
city in nearly all of the original thirteen colonies. 

We shall not undertake to show how these counties were 
originally governed in England, as it is sufficient for the 
purposes of our study to note their English origin, and that 
the affairs of the English county were entrusted to officers 
having the same titles and performing the same duties as in 
our own State. Among these officers were the Sheriff, the 
Constable, the Justice of the Peace and the Coroner, all of 
whose functions will be hereafter described. 

The English Parish. — In process of time, the coun- 
ties of England came to be subdivided into parishes for the 
purpose of local self-government. The parish was a terri- 
torial subdivision of the county, and its business was trans- 
acted at a meeting held periodically called the vestry meet- 
ing. The people taking part in this meeting were called the 
vestry. We find among the officers of the parish a Clerk, 
who performed duties for the parish similar to those per- 
formed by the Town Clerk for the township; Church War- 
dens, whose special duties originally were to care for the 
church property and collect the taxes levied for religious 
and charitable purposes ; and there were many other officers 
who performed duties similar to those of the officers enu- 
merated heretofore as a part of the system of township 
government. 

Settlement of Virginia. — The conditions under which 
the colony of Virginia was settled were such as to prompt 



138 STATE GOVERNMENT 

the importation of the county and parish system of govern- 
ment rather than the township system, which prevailed in 
New England. Among these conditions probably the most 
important was the character of the immigration. We have 
seen that New England was settled by church congregations 
who, emigrating together, settled in communities. But in 
Virginia the land was settled by individuals who received 
from the King grants of large tracts for the purpose chiefly 
of raising tobacco. Consequently the settlement of the 
colony was not in compact communities, but by isolated 
plantations. 

Social Conditions. — The principal industry being the 
cultivation of tobacco, large areas of land were necessary 
and cheap labor was required. This led to the importation 
of slaves and their employment in the tobacco fields, and 
also to the transportation to the colony of criminals from the 
large English cities. Both of these elements in the pop- 
ulation had a degrading effect upon the community, as 
neither class was capable, by education or instinct, of tak- 
ing part in the affairs of the local government. Class dis- 
tinctions were, therefore, created, and the landowners con- 
stituted an aristocracy, holding -themselves aloof from their 
slaves and the lower classes of the white population. 

Another peculiarity of the Virginia colony, distinguish- 
ing it from those of New England, was the absence of 
towns, which was due not only to the large plantations al- 
ready noted, but also to the fact that there were no manu- 
facturing or commercial industries by which towns mainly 
exist and prosper. The eastern portion of the State con- 
tains a large number of navigable rivers which, with their 
branches, afforded a ready means of communication be- 
tween all the different parts of the colony, and with the 



THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY 139 

ocean, consequently the crops were moved directly to ves- 
sels which conveyed them to Europe and supplies were re- 
ceived by the colonists in the same manner, thus rendering 
it unnecessary for the community to rely upon local mar- 
kets for the purchase of such articles of necessity as they 
were unable to raise upon their plantations. 

The following words of Mr. Thackeray depict in a gra- 
phic manner the social conditions which prevailed in colo- 
nial Virginia : 

" The whole usages of Virginia, indeed, were fondly mod- 
eled after the English customs. It was a loyal colony. The 
Virginians boasted that King Charles II. had been King 
in Virginia before he had been King in England. English 
King and English church were alike faithfully honored. 
They held their heads above the Dutch traders of New York 
and the money-getting Roundheads of Pennsylvania and 
New England. Never were people less republican than 
those of the great province which was soon to be foremost 
in the memorable revolt against the British crown. 

" The gentry of Virginia dwelt on their great lands after 
a fashion almost patriarchal. For its rough cultivation 
each estate had a multitude of hands — purchased and as- 
signed servants — who were subject to the command of the 
master. The land yielded their food, live stock and game. 
The great rivers swarmed with fish for the taking. From 
their banks the passage home was clear. Their ships took 
the tobacco off their private wharves on the banks of the 
Potomac or the James River and carried it to London or 
Bristol, bringing back English goods and articles of home 
manufacture in return for the only produce which the Vir- 
ginian gentry chose to cultivate. Their hospitality was 
boundless. No stranger was ever sent away from their 



140 STATE GOVERNMENT 

gates. The gentry received one another and traveled to 
each other's houses in a state almost feudal."* 

The Virginia Parish. — For these reasons probably, the 
parish system of local government was employed and the 
affairs of the community were governed by a vestry meet- 
ing with its church wardens and clerk. The body of the 
people were called the vestry, and at their annual vestry 
meeting they elected twelve vestrymen corresponding to 
the selectmen of the township, whose duty it was to admin- 
ister the affairs of the parish in the intervals between the 
vestry meetings. If these vestrymen had continued to be 
elected by the entire body of the people the system would 
have been a democratic one, but in process of time the ves- 
trymen themselves assumed the right to fill vacancies in 
their body, thereby perpetuating themselves in power and 
constituting in effect an oligarchy, or ruling class, which 
has always been damaging to the existence of republican 
institutions. 

That it was not subversive of these institutions in Vir- 
ginia and other southern colonies, was due to the fact that 
the vestrymen were men actuated by the highest motives, 
having the public welfare at heart. Thomas Jefferson, who 
was a profound student of local government, said : " The 
vestrymen are usually the most discreet farmers, so distrib- 
uted through the parish that every part of it may be under 
the immediate eyes of some one of them. They are well 
acquainted with the details and economies of private life, 
and they find sufficient inducement to execute their charge 
well in their philanthropy, in the approbation of their 
neighbors and the distinction which that gives them." 

The Unit of Representation. — From what has been 
said, it might be assumed that the difference between the 

*The Virginians, Chapter III. 



THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY l4i 

Massachusetts and the Virginia colonies was not so great 
after all, and that it was a difference in name more than 
anything else. This would doubtless be true to a certain ex- 
tent so far as the government of the parish on the one hand 
and the township on the other is directly concerned, but 
the difference appears more marked when we learn that in 
Virginia the parish was not the political unit. It was not 
the agency used to elect the representatives of the people 
in the wider government of the entire colony. In Virginia 
the county was the unit of representation and the legisla- 
ture was composed of representatives of the respective 
counties and not of representatives of the parishes. 

County Court. — The principal agency in administering 
the government of the Virginia county was the County 
Court, which was composed of eight justices of the peace 
and which met monthly in some central locality. The mem- 
bers of the court were appointed by the governor, but, as a 
matter of fact, after the court was first constituted it was 
practically a self-perpetuating body, because it was custom- 
ary for the court itself to nominate to the governor suita- 
ble candidates for the filling of all vacancies, and its recom- 
mendations were generally followed. 

The county court had a limited jurisdiction in civil and 
criminal actions, and had charge of the probate of wills and 
the administration of estates. In addition to its judicial 
functions, it also superintended the construction of bridges 
and highways and appointed most of the county officers, 
such as surveyors, constables and coroners, and levied the 
taxes for the entire county to be expended for such public 
purposes as payment of salaries, construction of roads and 
public buildings. 

Taxes. — As the population of Virginia was scattered 
and there were no towns in the early days, many of the ob- 



142 STATE GOVERNMENT 

jects for which taxes are levied in municipalities did not 
exist in the colony. The local taxes were levied by the 
vestrymen and were applied principally for ecclesiastical 
purposes and the support of the poor, and the general taxes, 
for the purposes which have already been mentioned, were 
levied by the county court. 

Sheriff. — Under the county system, which prevailed in 
Virginia, the Sheriff was an officer having a multitude of 
duties. He not only acted as the executive officer of the 
court, and in that capacity served writs, took care of the 
courthouse and jail and enforced the decrees and orders 
of the court; but he also in many cases acted as the col- 
lector of taxes, and as the treasurer, who held the proceeds 
of the taxes when collected, and in addition to these duties 
he presided over the election of the representatives to the 
legislature. The Sheriff was appointed by the governor 
upon the recommendation of the county court. 

Town and County Systems Contrasted. — From 
this outline of the local governmental arrangements in Vir- 
ginia we find that the governing power was not vested in 
the people, but was in the hands of a comparatively limited 
number of the citizens. As indicated by the words of Jef- 
ferson, already quoted, such a government will, no doubt, 
be beneficial, economical and efficient, as long as the persons 
in control are actuated by proper motives and in the dis- 
charge of their duties consider the welfare of the com- 
munity, and not their own private and personal ends. 

In contrasting the two systems of local government pre- 
vailing in New England and in Virginia, two points of 
difference may be noticed. In New England, under the 
township system we find that practically every public officer 
having any governmental duties to perform was chosen di- 
rectly by the people, and that in Virginia the most import- 



THE OLD VIRGINIA COUNTY • 143 

ant of these officers were nominally appointed by the Gov- 
ernor, but in reality were appointed by their associates in 
office, thus creating a governing aristocracy, which is re- 
pugnant to a democracy. We also notice that in New Eng- 
land the entire management of local affairs was in the hands 
of the inhabitants of the respective communities, while in 
Virginia the only local affairs which were even theoretically 
under the control of the people were those pertaining to the 
parish, which concerned solely the support of the church 
and the maintenance of the almshouses, all other local af- 
fairs being controlled by the county officers. 

It has been said that the New England system is the one 
most likely to cultivate in the minds of the people a thor- 
ough knowledge of the duties of citizenship and to develop 
in them a sense of individual responsibility for the proper 
management of public affairs, while the Virginia system, 
tending, as it does, to divide the population into classes and 
to restrict the management of governmental affairs to a 
few, was more likely to develop qualities of leadership in 
members of the governing class.* 



Fiske's Civil Government, page 66. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN. 

One of the chief obstacles to the formation of a perma- 
nent union of the thirteen colonies was the controversy as 
to the disposition to be made of the vast and partially un- 
explored territory lying north of the Ohio River, and be- 
tween the western boundaries of the original States and the 
Mississippi River. This region was claimed wholly or in 
part by the States of New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, 
and Connecticut, but under different pretexts. The claim 
of New York was based upon its jurisdiction over the Six 
Nations, who had partially conquered several of the Indian 
tribes inhabiting the territory. The other three States con- 
tended that the whole or a part of the region was included 
in their original charters, and in addition, Virginia as- 
serted a title acquired by the conquest under Clark and his 
comrades, which has been narrated in a preceding chapter. 

These conflicting claims were a fruitful source of dis- 
cord in the discussions which preceded the adoption of the 
Articles of Confederation. The States which had no 
claims upon these lands were jealous of the others, and re- 
fused to come into the confederacy unless arrangements 
were made for the division of this domain. The State of 
Delaware, in 1779, voiced the common sentiment by de- 
claring that the State considered itself " justly entitled to a 
right in common with the members of the Union to that 
extensive tract of territory which lies to the westward of the 
frontiers of the United States, the property of which was 

(144) 



TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 145 

not vested in or granted to individuals at the commencement 
of the present war." 

The controversy was finally settled by the cession of all 
of these lands to the general government. New York took 
the lead in this movement in 1781, and was followed by 
Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, the last cession 
being that of Connecticut in 1786. In this way, the general 
government acquired its title to the territory in dispute. 

Jefferson's Plan of Government.— From the close 
of the Revolutionary War until the year 1787, the govern- 
ment of this territory was neglected by Congress. Such 
local governmental agencies as were in existence ceased to 
perform their functions, public officers did not discharge 
their duties, and in many instances lawless individuals plun- 
dered the people at will. In Michigan, as we have seen, 
the military rule of the English continued to even a later 
date. 

Thus the urgent necessity of providing some form of 
government for the inhabitants of this territory became ap- 
parent, and Congress was occupied with this problem from 
March 1, 1784, when a committee, of which Thomas Jeffer- 
son was chairman, was appointed to prepare a plan for the 
temporary government of the Northwest Territory, until 
July 13, 1787, when the famous Ordinance of 1787 was 
enacted by Congress. 

The plan proposed by Mr. Jefferson was not adopted, 
although it was comprehensive in its scope, and provided 
for the temporary government of the territory in all its 
details. By this plan, the territory was to be divided into 
seventeen parts, with the expectation that they would event- 
ually be admitted as States. The most noteworthy feature 
of the scheme was the provision absolutely forbidding 
slavery after the year 1800 in the territory, or the States 



146 STATE GOVERNMENT 

to be formed from it. This provision, which was after- 
wards substantially incorporated in the Ordinance of 1787, 
constituted in later years an effectual check to the advance 
of slavery and its accompanying evils, and made the Ohio 
River the northern boundary of the slave-holding terri- 
tory. 

The Ordinance of 1787. — This celebrated law, the 
object of which was to provide a government for the ter- 
ritory north of the Ohio River, called the Northwest Ter- 
ritory, has been the subject of so many encomiums that it 
deserves more than a passing mention in this connection. 
In speaking of it Daniel Webster said : " I doubt whether 
one single law, ancient or modern, has produced effects 
of more distinct, marked and lasting character than the 
Ordinance of 1787." Equally significant are the words 
of Chief Justice Chase of the United States Supreme Court, 
who said : " Never, probably, in the history of the world 
did a measure of legislation so accurately fulfill and yet so 
mightily exceed the anticipations of the legislators." 

This law provided a temporary form of government for 
an extensive territory, sparsely inhabited by Indians, half- 
breeds, Frenchmen, pioneers, and adventurers from the 
Eastern States and from other parts of the world. Owing 
to its great length and the number of its provisions, a de- 
tailed statement of its contents will not be attempted. 

The chief merit of the enactment was due to the fact that 
it embodied in the fundamental law of this territory many 
of the principles which had been announced in the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and thus secured to the inhabitants 
and their posterity all the benefits, both social and political, 
which had been derived from the enlightened theories of the 
signers of the Declaration. 

Among these benefits may be mentioned, the right to 



TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 147 

freedom of opinion and worship, trial by jury, the writ of 
habeas corpus and proportionate representation. In addi- 
tion to these, the provision forbidding slavery in the terri- 
tory and the law of inheritance by which the property of an 
intestate descended equally to his children were important, 
because they prevented the formation of a landed aristoc- 
racy and secured a body of citizens upon a reasonable basis 
of equality in the ownership of land. 

Government under the Ordinance of 1787. — The 
form of government provided by this ordinance was not 
particularly liberal in the matter of allowing the people 
to exercise the right of local self-government. The gov- 
ernor was appointed by Congress and vested with authority 
to fill all of the minor offices. Three judges were also ap- 
pointed, who, with the governor, were given the power of 
prescribing the laws until such time as the territory had a 
population of 5,000 inhabitants. This population having 
been attained, the territory was authorized to elect a general 
assembly, but the elective franchise could be exercised only 
by citizens who owned at least fifty acres of land, and a rep- 
resentative was required to be a citizen of the United States, 
a resident of the district from which he was elected and the 
owner of at last two hundred acres of land. 

The ordinance also provided that not less than three 
nor more than five States should be formed from the ter- 
ritory, and in a general way fixed the boundaries of these 
prospective States, the intention being that whenever any 
one of these States attained a population of sixty thousand 
inhabitants, it should be admitted to the Union on an equal 
basis with the original thirteen States. 

Thus it will be seen that under the Ordinance of 1787 it 
was expected that the States to be formed from the North- 
west Territory should pass through three stages in respect 



148 STATE GOVERNMENT 

to their government. In the first stage, the inhabitants were 
given only very limited political rights. The only laws 
then in force were such enactments selected from the stat- 
utes of the original States, both civil and criminal, as the 
governor and the three judges saw fit to publish and de- 
clare, they having the right to select such portions of these 
laws as they thought best suited to the needs of the terri- 
tory. 

In the second stage, the people were given the right to 
elect a legislative assembly, but the right of suffrage was 
restricted to those citizens having the necessary property 
qualifications. The third stage contemplated that the in- 
habitants of the territory should enjoy all the rights of 
American citizens. 

A Part of Indiana. — The first permanent division of 
the Northwest Territory took place in the year 1802, when 
Ohio was admitted to the Union. The remainder of the 
territory was given the name of Indiana, and continued to 
be governed under the Ordinance of 1787 as a part of In- 
diana Territory. This arrangement was of brief duration, 
and requires only passing mention, as no change was 
effected so far as the government of the territory was con- 
cerned. In 1805, Congress enacted a law, creating the Ter- 
ritory of Michigan. The new territory, as defined by the 
Act of Congress, included "all that part of Indiana which 
lies north of a line drawn east from the southerly bend or 
extreme of Lake Michigan until it shall intersect Lake Erie, 
and east of a line drawn from said southerly bend through 
the middle of said Lake to its northerly extremity, and 
thence due north to the northern boundary of the United 
States." This law went into effect on June 30, 1806, and 
with that date the history of Michigan, as a distinct and sep- 
arate part of the United States, commenced. 



TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 149 

The Territory of Michigan. — The history of the first 
ten years of Michigan Territory was not prosperous or 
fortunate. Detroit was the seat of government, and there 
were but few white settlements in the Territory. The form 
of government was that of the first stage prescribed by the 
Ordinance of 1787, that is to say, the legislative, judicial,, 
and executive functions were exercised by the governor, 
secretary, and three judges, all of whom were appointed by 
the President. No political progress was made during this 
period, and the development of the Territory was still fur- 
ther retarded by the misfortunes attendant upon the War 
of 181 2, prominent among which was the temporary occu- 
pation by the British military forces. 

With the expulsion of the British, Michigan again com- 
menced its history as a part of the American Union, under 
the governorship of Lewis Cass, a man of great ability and 
political foresight. 

Beginnings of Local Government. — Prior to the 
administration of Governor Cass, the history of Michigan, 
both from a material and political standpoint, shows only a 
succession of misfortunes, but a new order of things soon 
became apparent. The governor was a man of strong con- 
victions, thoroughly imbued with the theories of local gov- 
ernment which prevailed in New England, where he was 
born and spent his early years. Settlers were encouraged to 
come to the Territory, and the cultivated land gradually 
encroached upon the wilderness. The county system was 
introduced for judicial purposes, as in Virginia, but the 
New England Town Meeting was adopted as the agency 
for governing the different communities. 

The genesis, growth, and development of a Michigan 
town has been aptly described by a learned writer, who 
says : " First comes the settler, who, axe in hand, clears the 



150 STATE GOVERNMENT 

ground for his humble dwelling and plants whatever seed 
he has brought with him. Then comes another settler and 
another, until perhaps a dozen families are established near. 
Two wants are now felt: Roads or at least paths from 
house to house, from hamlet to market town, and a school- 
house for the multiplying children. There is no central au- 
thority to provide these things, but the settlers meet and 
voluntarily vote to tax themselves. The services of a super- 
visor, collector, clerk, constable, and justice of the peace 
are required."* 

In this way local government commenced in Michigan. 
The immigration to the territory was largely from New 
England and New York, and consequently the institutions 
of those places were transplanted to the new Territory, 
with such changes and modifications as the circumstances 
and conditions of the pioneer settlements seemed to require. 
Michigan took the lead among the Western States in the 
adoption of the town-meeting as an agency for local gov- 
ernment. In the neighboring States of Ohio, Indiana and 
Illinois, the Virginia County System was the basis for reg- 
ulating local affairs in early days, but as the years have 
passed it has largely been supplanted by institutions orig- 
inating in the New England Town Meeting. In Michigan, 
while it remained under territorial government, the county 
system was used principally for judicial purposes, as already 
stated. In subsequent chapters, both of these civil insti- 
tutions as they exist in the State of Michigan at the pres- 
ent time will be fully described. 

Michigan Becomes a State. — In the year 1832, the 
population of Michigan had increased so enormously that 
the people began to consider and discuss the advisability of 



*Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest, Edward W. Bemis, Johns 
Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, Vol. I. 



TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 151 

applying for admission to the Union as a State, and an elec- 
tion was held in that year to ascertain the opinion of the 
people on the question. A large majority of the votes were 
in favor of statehood, but further action on the subject was 
delayed by the outbreak of Black Hawk's War and by an 
epidemic of cholera which ravaged the Territory for two 
years.* 

A census was taken in the year 1834, and it was found 
that there were 87,273 free inhabitants in the original Ter- 
ritory, and that Michigan had added to its population more 
than 60,000 persons during the preceding four years.** The 
Ordinance of 1787 provided that whenever there were more 
than 60,000 inhabitants within that portion of the North- 
west Territory which was to form one of the five States to 
be created from it, a state government should be estab- 
lished. This provision was held to be a compact between 
the general government and the people of the Territory, 
and as Michigan now had more than the requisite popu- 
lation, the desire for statehood became universal through- 
out the Territory. 

A convention, composed of delegates elected by the peo- 
ple, assembled at Detroit in May, 1835, and adopted a State 
constitution, which received the approval of the people at 
an election held in October of that year. But the admission 
of Michigan to the Union was delayed still further by a 
dispute which arose as to the boundary between that State 
and Ohio.*** It was finally proposed by Congress to settle 
the controversy by yielding to Ohio the land in dispute, 
and to compensate Michigan by the cession to it of an ex- 
tensive tract, which is now known as the Upper Peninsula. 



* Cooley's History of Michigan, page 212. 
** Campbell's Political History of Michigan, page 44.2, 

*** A complete and interesting account of this controversy is contained in Chapter 
XI of Cooley's History of Michigan. 



152 STATE GOVERNMENT 

This compromise was rejected by a convention called to 
consider the proposition at Ann Arbor on September 4, 
1836, and no settlement of the dispute seemed at hand. 

The political status of Michigan at this time was unusual. 
A state government had been formed and officers elected, 
all of whom were performing their duties, yet the State, 
while within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, 
was still not a member of the Union. This condition of 
things could not continue long, and another convention 
was assembled at Ann Arbor on December 6, 1836, which 
ratified the proposition for the settlement of the boundary 
trouble, and on January 26, 1837, Congress declared that 
Michigan had become a member of the Federal Union. 

The constitution which had been adopted by the people 
of the Territory became the fundamental law of the new 
State, and remained in force until the year 1850, when the 
present State constitution went into effect. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN. 

We come now to study the government of the State of 
Michigan as it exists to-day under the Constitution of 
1850. This Constitution was adopted on August 15, 1850, 
by a convention composed of delegates chosen by the people, 
which met at the capitol in Lansing. It was subsequently 
ratified by a vote of the people, and went into effect on 
January 1, 1851. 

The States are forbidden by the constitution of the 
United States to exercise any of the powers which have 
been given exclusively to the Federal Government, as 
those powers are such as affect all of the States, and there- 
fore could not be exercised by the States separately with 
any degree of uniformity or harmony. It would cause a 
vast amount of confusion and trouble if each of the forty- 
five States of the Union had the right to exercise such 
national prerogatives as coining money, imposing customs 
duties, regulating patents and copyrights, making treaties 
with foreign nations or maintaining a military and naval 
establishment. 

,For this reason the Constitution has prohibited the 
States from exercising any of the powers of the national 
government, and in furtherance of the same purpose has 
expressly and specifically provided that no State shall at- 
tempt to do any of these things. With these restrictions 

(153) 



154 STATE GOVERNMENT 

the State government of Michigan can do almost anything 
that its own constitution and the acts of its own legislature 
permit. 

Scope of State Government. — To show the vast range 
of subjects which are under the control of the State gov- 
ernment, the following words of a learned writer upon the 
subject are quoted in full: 

"All the civil and religious rights of our citizens depend 
upon State legislation; the education of the people is in 
the care of the States ; with them rests the regulation of the 
suffrage; they prescribe the rules of marriage, the legal 
relations of husband and wife, of parent and child; they 
determine the powers of masters over servants and the 
whole law of principal and agent, which is so vital a matter 
in all business transactions; they regulate partnership, 
debt, credit and insurance ; they constitute all corporations, 
both private and municipal, except such as specially 
fulfill the financial or other specific functions of the Fed- 
eral Government; they control possession, distribution and 
use of property, the exercise of all trades and all contract 
relations ; and they formulate and administer all criminal 
law, except only that which concerns crimes committed 
against the United States, on the high seas or against the 
law of nations. Space would fail in which to enumerate 
the particulars of this vast range of power; to detail its 
parts would be to catalogue all social and business relation- 
ships, to examine all the foundations of law and order."* 

We shall now present an outline of the general structure 
of the State government of Michigan, and show how its 
legislative, executive and judicial departments are consti- 
tuted, and the powers of each, but some of the provisions 
of the constitution, such as those relating to revenue, edu- 

* Woodrovv Wilson, The State. 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 155 

cation, suffrage and other matters, will be considered in 
subsequent chapters. 

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

The legislative power of the State is vested in a senate 
and house of representatives, the members of both of which 
are elected by the people. A candidate for either of these 
positions must be a citizen of the United States, and a quali- 
fied elector of the county and district which he represents. 
No person holding any lucrative office under the United 
States or this State can be either senator or representative. 
No person who has failed to account for public money en- 
trusted to his care can fill these positions, or any other 
office in this State. Members of the general assembly, be- 
fore entering upon their official duties, are required to take 
a solemn oath of office, and any member who violates this 
oath must forfeit his office and be thereafter disqualified 
from holding any office of trust or profit in this State. 

The Senate. — The Constitution provides that the State 
shall be divided into thirty-two senate districts, each of 
which shall elect one senator, whose term of office- shall be 
two years. No county can be divided in the formation of 
senate districts, unless it is equitably entitled to two or 
more senators. The only counties affected by this provi- 
sion are Wayne and Kent, there being at the present time 
four senators from Wayne County and two from Kent 
County. 

House of Representatives.— The house of representa- 
tives consists of one hundred members, who are elected for 
a term of two years. The Constitution directs that the State 
shall be divided into representative districts, composed of 
contiguous territory, and containing as nearly as possible 
an equal number of inhabitants. No township or city can 



156 STATE GOVERNMENT 

be divided in the formation of a representative district, 
and when such township or city, by reason of its population, 
becomes entitled to more than one representative, they must 
be elected on a general ticket. 

Each county having a population equal to a moiety of the 
ratio of representation is entitled to one representative and 
many of the counties have two or more representatives. For 
example, the present ratio of representation is 20,938 per- 
sons, and each county having a moiety of this number elects 
one representative, while Wayne County is entitled to twelve 
representatives, Kent County to five, Saginaw to four, and 
so on. The less populous counties are grouped in repre- 
sentative districts, each district containing two or more 
counties. 

Legislative Sessions. — The regular sessions of the 
legislature must commence on the first Wednesday in Jan- 
uary, in every second year, commencing with the year 
1861, and must be held at the seat of government. The 
Constitution forbids the holding of sessions of the gen- 
eral assembly at any other time or place, except in cases 
where a special session is convened by the governor, who 
has the right to exercise that power on extraordinary oc- 
casions. 

The presiding officer of the house of representatives, 
called the speaker, is elected by the members of the house, 
but the lieutenant-governor, who is elected by the people, 
presides over the sessions of the senate. 

Forbidden Legislation. — The Constitution imposes 
some restrictions upon the power of the legislature to enact 
laws, without which there would be no limit to the scope or 
variety of legislation. It is unlawful for the legislature to 
authorize by special law the sale of real estate belonging 
to an individual, or to vacate or alter any road or street laid 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 157 

out by the proper local authorities, or permit the sale of 
lottery tickets. It can pass no law interfering in any way 
with the religious liberty of citizens, and no money can be 
appropriated from the treasury for the benefit of any re- 
ligious sect. The freedom of speech and of the press can- 
not be restrained or abridged, and no law can be passed 
which impairs the obligation of contracts. 

Impeachment. — The provisions of the Constitution of 
Michigan upon the subject of impeachment are similar to 
those of the Federal Constitution. The house of repre- 
sentatives has the sole power of impeachment, and all im- 
peachments must be tried by the senate, which acts in a 
judicial capacity in such cases. When the governor or 
lieutenant-governor of the State is tried, the chief justice 
of the supreme court presides, and two thirds of the sen- 
ators must concur in order to secure a conviction. In case 
of conviction, the punishment is removal from office, but 
the person convicted remains liable to punishment accord- 
ing to law. 

THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

In comparing the provisions of the Constitution of Mich- 
igan, relating to the executive department, with those of the 
Federal Constitution, an important difference should be 
noted. Under the Constitution of the United States, the 
executive power is vested in the President alone, and all 
other officers having executive duties to perform hold their 
respective positions by appointment. The Constitution of 
Michigan provides that the executive power shall be vested 
in the governor, but it also directs the election of certain 
other officers, viz : Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Treasurer, Commis- 
sioner of the Land Office, Auditor General, and Attorney 



158 STATE GOVERNMENT 

General. All these are executive officers, and all are elected 
by the people for a term of two years. In case the vote for 
governor or lieutenant-governor is a tie, then the legisla- 
ture elects. 

It is, therefore, apparent that the governor is only a 
part of the executive department, and that there are other 
executive officers deriving their powers from the same source 
as the governor — that is, from the constitution. " Indeed, 
it may be doubted whether the governor and other principal 
officers of a state government can, even when taken together, 
be correctly described as ' the executive,' since the actual 
execution of the laws does not rest with them, but with 
the local officers chosen by the towns and counties, and 
bound to the central authorities of the State by no real 
bonds of responsibility whatever."* 

Governor. — A person to be eligible for the office of gov- 
ernor or lieutenant-governor must be at least thirty years of 
age and must have been for five years a citizen of the 
United States, and a resident of the State of Michigan for 
two years next preceding his election. 

The powers and duties of the governor, as established by 
the Constitution of Michigan, may be generalized under 
the following heads : 

i. Certain Duties and Pozvers with Reference to I lie 
Legislature. — It is his duty, at each session and at the close 
of his term of office, to give to the legislature, by message, 
information of the condition of the State, and to recom- 
mend such measures as he deems expedient. He has the 
power of convening the general assembly in special ses- 
sions upon extraordinary occasions. 

2. Pardoning Power. — He has the power of granting 



* Woodrow Wilson, The State. 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 159 

reprieves, commutations and pardons after conviction, for 
all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, sub- 
ject to such regulations as may be provided by law. 

3. As Commander-in-Chief. — He is commander-in-chief 
of the military and naval forces of the State, except when 
they shall be called into the service of the United States, 
and may call out these forces to aid in executing the laws, 
suppressing insurrection and repelling invasion. The militia 
of the State is composed of all able-bodied male citizens 
between the ages of 18 and 45, except those who are ex- 
empted by law. 

4. The Power of Veto. — Every bill passed by the legis- 
lature must be submitted to the governor before it becomes 
a law. If he approves the enactment, he signs it, and there- 
upon it becomes a law ; if he does not approve, he returns 
the bill to the house from which it originated, together 
with his objections. This act of the governor is termed 
vetoing the bill. If the bill again passes both houses of 
the legislature by a two thirds vote in each house, it becomes 
a law, notwithstanding the governor's veto. Any bill not 
returned by the governor within ten days, Sundays ex- 
cepted, after it has been submitted to him, becomes a law 
in like manner as if he had signed it. In case he is pre- 
vented from returning the bill by the adjournment of the 
legislature, within ten days after the bill has been present- 
ed to him, it does not become a law. Any bill passed by the 
legislature during the last five days of the session may be 
approved by the governor within five days after the ad- 
journment of the legislature, and the same shall then be- 
come a law. 

In case of death, impeachment, failure to qualify, resigna- 
tion, absence from the State, or other disability of the gov- 
ernor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office for 



160 STATE GOVERNMENT 

the residue of the term, or until the disability is removed, 
devolve upon the lieutenant-governor. 

Other State Officers. — Lieutenant - Governor. — The 
lieutenant-governor is president of the senate, but he has 
the right to vote only when the senate is equally divided 
upon a question. The senate chooses a president pro tem- 
pore to preside in case of the absence or impeachment of the 
lieutenant-governor, or when he holds the office of gov- 
ernor. 

If there be no lieutenant-governor, or if the lieutenant- 
governor becomes incapable of performing the duties of the 
office, the president of the senate acts as governor until the 
vacancy is filled or the disability removed. 

Secretary of State. — The secretary of state is the 
official custodian of the books, papers, records and great 
seal of the State of Michigan. The title of his office more 
accurately describes his duties than is the case with the Sec- 
retary of State of the United States, who is a minister of 
foreign affairs. The secretary of state of the State of 
Michigan performs the duties which are usually imposed 
upon the secretary of any great establishment, and acts 
in the same capacity for the sovereign State of Michigan 
as he would if secretary of a large private corporation. 

All public acts, laws and resolutions passed by the gen- 
eral assembly must be deposited in his office, and he is 
charged with the safekeeping of all documents deposited 
with him. It is his duty to keep a record of the official 
acts of the governor ; to countersign and to affix the seal of 
the State to all commissions issued by the governor; to 
furnish, upon request and payment of the lawful fees there- 
for, a copy of any of the records in his office ; to take charge 
of the printing of public records ; and to supervise the dis- 
tribution of the laws and journals of the legislature. 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 161 

Treasurer. — The treasurer, as is indicated by the title 
of his office, must receive and keep all moneys belonging to 
the State of Michigan. This is an office of great pecuniary 
responsibility, and, therefore, to secure the faithful dis- 
charge of his duties, the treasurer is obliged to give a bond 
to the people of the State, and is also required to furnish 
additional bonds whenever the auditor-general shall deem 
it necessary. 

The treasurer must receive all public moneys of the State 
and safely keep the same. He can pay money out of the 
treasury only upon the warrant of the auditor-general, and 
he is required to keep accurate acounts of all moneys re- 
ceived and paid out by him, and to report the same each 
month to the auditor-general. 

Commissioner of the Land Office. — This officer has the 
general supervision of lands belonging to the State, and 
has power to lease or sell the same in the manner pro- 
vided by law. He has numerous duties to perform in con- 
nection with the real property owned by the State, or in 
which it has an interest, such as conducting and keeping a 
proper record of all sales of public lands, and making return 
of the proceeds of such sales to the treasurer of the county 
in which the land is located, attending to the surveying 
of lands, and establishing proper boundaries for both public 
and private lands, causing maps of village lots to be re- 
corded. 

Auditor General. — The auditor-general is the official ac- 
countant of the State of Michigan. It is his duty to keep 
the accounts of the State with any other State or Territory 
and with the United States, with all public officers, corpora- 
tions, and individuals having dealings with the State, and 
to audit all accounts of public officers who are paid out of 
the State treasury, of the members of the legislature, and 



162 STATE GOVERNMENT 

all persons authorized to receive moneys from the State 
treasury. He also has many other duties to perform under 
various statutes, relating to the financial affairs of the State, 
its revenue and the management of the funds of its charitable 
institutions, some of which will be mentioned in subsequent 
chapters. 

Attorney General. — He is the chief legal officer of the 
State government. It is his duty, as prosecuting officer, 
to represent the people of the State in all cases in which 
they are interested, and also to protect State officers in 
suits brought against them in their official capacity. He is 
the legal adviser of the governor and other State officers, 
and is required, when requested by them, to give written 
opinions upon all legal and constitutional questions relating 
to their duties, and to prepare all legal documents incidental 
to the business of the State. He is the legal adviser of both 
branches of the legislature, and it is his duty to enforce 
the proper application of the funds appropriated for the 
support of the public institutions, such as schools and asy- 
lums, and to prosecute all persons who may be guilty of any 
breach of trust in the management of such funds. 

He also has important duties to perform with reference 
to certain corporations, such as insurance companies, build- 
ing and loan associations, savings associations, and railroad 
companies, and must see that these institutions comply with 
the laws of the State in the management of their business. 

State Boards. — Many of the administrative duties of 
the government are entrusted to various Boards, created by 
the laws of Michigan,- and as these Boards properly belong 
to the executive department, the more important of them 
will be described briefly. 

Board of State Auditors. — This Board is created by the 
Constitution of the State, and is composed of the secre- 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 163 

tary of state, state treasurer, and commissioner of the state 
land office. It is one of the most important of the State 
Boards, and has numerous duties to perform, only a few 
of which can be enumerated. 

Under the Constitution, it is required to examine and 
adjust all claims against the State, not otherwise provided 
for by law. In this capacity, it acts as a court of claims, 
the necessity for which has been mentioned in a former 
chapter.* 

No suit can be brought against the State of Michigan, 
but as the business of the state government is of vast pro- 
portions, it follows that many persons are entitled to re- 
ceive money from the state treasury, either for services 
rendered or material furnished to the State. All these 
claims are audited, examined and adjusted by the Board of 
State Auditors, and when allowed, are paid by the state 
treasurer. They also have power to institute measures for 
the collection of claims due to the State. 

The Constitution also requires the officers composing this 
Board to act as a Board of State Canvassers, to determine 
the result of elections for state officers. Their duties in 
this capacity will be described hereafter in the chapter on 
the election laws of the State.** 

Many other duties are imposed upon this Board by the 
laws of the State, among which may be mentioned the care 
of the furniture in the halls and committee rooms of the 
senate and house of representatives, the supervision of the 
drawing and accounting for money used for postage in the 
different departments of the state government, the super- 
vision of the expenses and accounts of various state insti- 
tutions, and the examination of the affairs of banks and 
trust companies, so as to protect persons doing business 

* See page 101. ** See Chapter XXI. , 



164 STATE GOVERNMENT 

with these institutions from the results of dishonest or in- 
competent management. 

State Board of Agriculture. — This Board owes its ex- 
istence to an act of the legislature. It is composed of eight 
members, six of whom are appointed by the governor, by 
and with the consent of the senate, two being appointed 
at each biennial session of the legislature. The governor 
and the president of the State Agricultural College are mem- 
bers of this Board by virtue of their respective offices. 

The members of this Board have charge of all funds set 
apart for the support of the State Agricultural College, and 
of the College* itself, including the selection of the in- 
structors and the regulation of the course of study. 

The Board also has other duties of great importance to 
the agricultural interests of the State, such as directing the 
analysis of commercial fertilizers, and supervising the in- 
spection of orchards and nurseries. 

State Board of Health. — Speaking briefly, the purpose 
for which this Board exists is the protection and preserva- 
tion of the life and health of the citizens of the State. To 
this end, the Board is required to study the vital statistics 
of the State, make investigations as to the causes of sickness 
and death, advise State officers and boards as to the sanitary 
arrangements of public buildings and state institutions, and 
to prevent the introduction and spread of contagious di- 
seases. They have the supervision of local boards of health, 
all of which are required to report periodically to the State 
Board. 

The Board is composed of seven members, six of whom 
are appointed by the governor, with the consent of the sen- 
ate. The Board so appointed elects a secretary, who then 
becomes a member of the Board. Regular quarterly meet- 

* For description of this institution see Chapter XXII. 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 165 

ings are held at the capital, but the Board may meet at such 
other times and places as necessity may require. 

Board of Fish Commissioners. — It is the duty of this 
Board to establish and maintain fish-breeding establish- 
ments for the propagation and cultivation of white fish and 
other varieties of fish which are suitable for food, and to 
stock the waters of the State with such fish. The Board 
employs a competent superintendent of fisheries, who de- 
votes his entire time to the hatching and distribution of 
fish among the streams and lakes of the State. The Board 
is also charged with the duty of enforcing the numerous 
regulations of the State for the preservation of the supply 
of fish and to prevent the catching of them in an unlawful 
manner. 

The Board is composed of three members, all of whom are 
appointed by the governor, and hold office for six years. 

Board of Pardons. — This Board is composed of four 
members, appointed by the governor, two being appointed 
at each session of the legislature. One member must be 
an attorney-at-law, and one must be a physician. 

The Board holds its sessions at such times and places as 
circumstances may require, and must fully and carefully in- 
vestigate every application for pardon or commutation of 
sentence on behalf of persons convicted of offenses against 
the laws of the State. It recommends to the governor the 
advisability of granting or rejecting such applications, and 
with its recommendations transmits to the governor a con- 
cise statement of the facts in each case. It is, therefore, 
purely an advisory body. 

Other Boards. — There are several other State Boards, 
which, while constituting branches of the executive depart- 
ment, can be studied more profitably in connection with 
other topics, as, for example, the State Board of Equaliza- 



166 STATE GOVERNMENT 

tion, whose duties will be considered in the chapter relating 
to the revenue laws, the Board of Regents and the State 
Board of Education, whose functions will be treated in a 
subsequent chapter, devoted entirely to educational matters. 

In addition to those, there are separate and distinct 
Boards having charge of the public educational and chari- 
table institutions of the State, such as the Board of Cor- 
rections and Charities, and still other Boards having duties 
to perform in overseeing the operations of railroads and 
other public corporations, none of which need be consid- 
ered in elementary study. 

Appointive Officers. — There are numerous other offi- 
cers in the State of Michigan, who discharge important 
executive functions. These are appointed by the governor, 
and hold their respective offices for a term of two years. 
Among the more important of these are the following. 

Adjutant General. — He is one of the important military 
officers of the State, and through him the commander-in- 
chief issues all orders to the militia. 

He makes an annual report to the governor, concerning 
the military forces of the State, showing their numerical 
strength and the details of their equipment. He has other 
duties imposed upon him by the laws of the State, as re- 
ceiving applications for the formation of military compa- 
nies, approving requisitions for uniforms, keeping a record 
of the naval militia, and receiving the various reports of 
company, regimental, brigade and division commanders. 

Quartermaster General. — He has charge of all the mag- 
azines, storehouses, arsenals, munitions of war, and mili- 
tary property of the State, and is required to keep the same 
safely and deliver it to his successor in office. On behalf 
of the State, he furnishes to all military organizations the 
necessary tents, fixtures, arms and equipments, camp equip- 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 167 

age, and such other articles as may be necessary. These 
different kinds of military property belong to the State, and 
are loaned by it to the commanders of the different com- 
panies, regiments and brigades of the state militia, and the 
officers to whom the articles are delivered are required to 
receipt for the same and be responsible for their safe-keeping. 

Inspector General. — The principal duty of this officer 
is to have charge and supervision of the instruction of the 
state troops. He has charge of the organization of military 
companies, and, when required by the governor, inspects the 
armories and military property of the State, and sees that 
the same are being kept in proper and safe condition.* 

Commissioner of Railroads. — As indicated by his title 
this officer is concerned with the affairs of the different 
railroad companies doing business in the State, and sees 
that all these companies comply with the laws of the 
State in the management of their affairs. In order that he 
may be fully informed as to the details of the business of 
these companies, each of them is required to furnish to the 
Commissioner a yearly report, showing its financial condi- 
tion, the value of the different kinds of property owned by 
it, such as rolling stock, tracks and buildings, the extent 
of its passenger and freight business, and the prices charged 
by it for the transportation of passengers and freight. 

If the Commissioner desires further information as to 
the management of such corporations, beyond what is con- 
tained in these yearly reports, .he has the right to propound 
such questions to the managers as he may deem necessary. 

It is necessary that this officer be vested with extensive 
powers, so that he may protect the interests of the public 



* The Adjutant General, Inspector General and Quartermaster General consti- 
tute the State Military Board, which is an advisory body to the Governor concerning 
all the military interests of the State, and prescribes all rules and regulations for 
the government of the State troops, 



168 STATE GOVERNMENT 

and see that proper and safe accommodations are provided 
for passengers and other persons doing business with rail- 
roads. Accordingly, he is given the right at any time in 
his discretion to inspect the books, papers and records of 
any railroad company doing business in the State and to ex- 
amine under oath the directors, officers and agents of any 
such corporation, concerning any matter connected with its 
business. 

The laws of Michigan, relating to the management of 
railroads within its borders, are very complete, and, speak- 
ing generally, it is the Commissioner's duty to see that these 
laws are observed. His powers and duties, therefore, are 
numerous, among which are the inspection of tracks, bridges, 
and cars, the making of regulations for the public safety 
at crossings, such as the employment of flagmen, and the 
erection of gates and bridges, and compelling railroad com- 
panies to furnish suitable accommodations for the public 
in respect to cars, depots, sidings and switch tracks. 

Commissioner of Insurance. — The business done by fire, 
marine and life insurance companies in the State of Mich- 
igan is enormous, and as the nature and details of the 
business are not understood by the majority of people, it 
is proper that the State should exercise a control over these 
companies, so that the people may be protected from dis- 
honest or incompetent management. 

He is the chief officer of the Bureau of Insurance, which 
is a branch of the state department, created especially to 
attend to the execution of the insurance laws. The details 
of the insurance business are so numerous that it is impos- 
sible, in an elementary work, to explain them, and, therefore, 
the duties of the Bureau and Commissioner of Insurance, can 
be described in only the most general way. 

He has charge of the licensing of all insurance companies 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 169 

wishing to do business in the State. All such companies 
are required to report to him, giving full particulars as to 
the nature and extent of their business, and the methods em- 
ployed in its transaction. He has power to examine their 
books and records, and in case violations of the law are dis- 
covered, he reports them to the Attorney- General, in order 
that proper legal action may be taken in such cases. 

Commissioner of Labor. — This officer, with his deputy, 
and the Secretary of State, constitute a Bureau of Statistics 
of Labor. The functions of this Bureau are to collect and 
print labor and industrial statistics, and to present the same 
in annual reports to the governor. 

These reports include statistical details relating to all 
departments of labor in the State. Some of the topics cov- 
ered are hours of labor, the number and nativity of laborers, 
their mental and moral culture, their age and sex, the in- 
fluence of the different kinds of labor, the use of intoxicat- 
ing liquors and the social and domestic relations of the 
laboring classes. 

Other Commissioners. — There are several other branches 
of industry which are subjected to inspection and control 
by the State government. The officers charged with the 
performance of these duties are called Commissioners in 
each case. Among them many be mentioned the Dairy and 
Food Commissioner and Commissioner of the Banking De- 
partment, whose duties are to compel the enforcement of the 
laws of the State with reference to the subject matter of 
their respective departments. 

The State Librarian is appointed by the governor and 
holds office for a term of four years. He has the care and 
custody of the State Library, and makes a report to the 
legislature at each session, showing the condition and con- 
tents of the library. He has charge of the sale of the re- 



170 STATE GOVERNMENT 

ports of the Supreme Court and the exchange of copies of 
the public documents of the State for similar publications 
of other states. 

THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

This is the branch of the government which applies the 
laws of the State to particular cases, through the medium 
of courts of justice, in which controversies between indi- 
viduals are heard and decided, and offenders against the 
laws of the State are tried. Cases of the first kind, relat- 
ing solely to the property rights of citizens and corpora- 
tions, are called civil cases, while those in which offenses 
against the law are involved are called criminal cases. 

Courts are instituted in order that citizens may be pro- 
tected in the enjoyment of their rights of life, liberty and 
property. A court must have at least two officers, namely, 
a judge and a clerk. The judge decides the matters which 
are in dispute, and makes the necessary orders, which are 
binding upon the parties to the controversy, and the clerk 
keeps a record of all the proceedings in the case and the 
orders which are made by the judge. 

The Constitution vests the judicial power of the State 
in one supreme court, circuit courts, probate courts and 
justices of the peace. These courts will be described separ- 
ately and the powers and jurisdiction* of each will be shown. 

Supreme Court. — This is the highest court in the State 
in point of dignity and importance. It has five judges, one 
of whom is called the chief justice, and the remaining four 
are called associate justices. The term of office of these 

*The term jurisdiction, as applied to a particular court, means its power to hear 
and determine cases, the sphere of its authority. The jurisdiction of a court may 
be limited to a certain territory, district or county, and it may be limited to certain 
classes of cases. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court extends to all parts of the 
State, while the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court of any county is limited by the ter- 
ritorial boundaries of that county. 

Original jurisdiction means the power to pass upon cases in the first instance, 
while appellate jurisdiction means the right to review cases which have been passed 
upon by lower courts 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 171 

judges is ten years, and one of them is elected by the people 
every second year. Each of the judges acts as chief jus- 
tice during the last two years of his term. 

The judges of the Supreme Court are required to reside 
at Lansing during their respective terms of office, and all 
sessions of the court must be held in that city. Four terms 
of the court are held each year, commencing respectively 
in the months of January, April, June and October. 

The Supreme Court has a general control over all other 
courts of the State, and has the power to issue writs of 
error,* habeas corpus,** mandamus,*** quo warranto,**** 
and procedendo.***** In these cases it has original juris- 
diction. In all other cases it has appellate jurisdiction only. 

Circuit Courts. — Circuit Courts have original jurisdic- 
tion in all civil and criminal matters, except those minor 
cases hereafter mentioned, which are determined by jus- 
tices of the peace, and also have appellate jurisdiction in 
cases arising before justices of the peace and before the 
probate court. 

The State is divided into thirty-five judicial circuits. In 
some cases, a single county constitutes a circuit, and in 
other cases, two or more counties are combined in one cir- 
cuit. For example, each of the counties of Wayne, Jackson, 
Saginaw, Macomb, Kent and Bay, being the most populous 
counties of the State, form a judicial circuit, while the coun- 



* This writ is issued for the purpose of bringing before the Supreme Court for 
review the record of the proceedings in the inferior court in cases in which it is 
alleged that errors have been committed. 

** For an explanation of the origin and meaning of this term, see Chapter XXIV. 

***The word mandamus was originally a Latin verb, meaning "we command." 
In law it is used to designate a writ or order issued by a superior court, directing an 
inferior court or a public officer to perform some specific duty. 

**** This is a proceeding in the name of the people of the State to inquire into cases 
of unlawful usurpations of office or the unlawful exercise of franchises. 

***** This is a writ by which a case is sent from a higher to a lower court, with direc- 
tions to the lower court to proceed to the final hearing and determination of the 
case. It is issued by the Supreme Court when a case has been improperly brought 
before it, which should be heard in a lower court. 



172 STATE GOVERNMENT 

ties of Antrim, Charlevoix, Grand Traverse and Leelanau 
combined constitute the thirteenth judicial circuit. 

One judge is elected by the people in each of these cir- 
cuits, and he is required to hold court at least twice each 
year in every county in his circuit. In counties containing 
ten thousand inhabitants, a circuit court must be held four 
times each year. The Constitution authorizes the legisla- 
ture to provide for the election of additional circuit judges 
in the counties of Wayne, Saginaw and Kent. The county 
clerk of each county is also the clerk of the circuit court 
of that county. 

Circuit Court in Certain Counties. — In Wayne Coun 
ty there are five circuit judges, all of whom have equal 
powers and duties; one of these is the presiding judge, and 
when sitting together the concurrence of three is sufficient 
to decide any matter. The presiding judge assigns and 
apportions the business of the court among the five judges » 
and they hold court separately, each disposing of the busi 
ness assigned to him. 

In each of the counties of Saginaw and Kent, there ar« 
two circuit judges, having equal powers and duties. The. 
business of the court is divided between them, and each 
judge holds a separate court for the transaction of his share 
of the business. 

Superior Court of Grand Rapids. — This court was 
organized to relieve the Circuit Court of Kent County from 
litigation arising between residents of Grand Rapids, and 
it has no jurisdiction over persons other than those residing 
in that city. 

It has the same jurisdiction in civil cases as the Circuit 
Court of Kent County, and in addition, has exclusive juris- 
diction over cases in which the city or its officers are par- 
ties. It also has exclusive jurisdiction in all criminal cases 






STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 173 

based upon offenses committed in that city. Appeals from 
the decisions of this court are taken to the Supreme Court.* 

Recorder's Court of Detroit. — This court has two 
judges, one of whom is called the Recorder. They have 
equal powers, and the business of the court is divided be- 
tween them, so that each may have an equal share, as nearly 
as possible. 

The court has original and exclusive jurisdiction over 
all criminal cases arising in the City of Detroit, except 
those minor cases which are cognizable by the. police court 
or by justices of the peace. It also takes cognizance of 
offenses against the ordinances of the City of Detroit, and of 
violations of the election laws of the State. Proceedings 
to take private property for the benefit of the public may 
be taken in this court.** 

Probate Courts. — In each county of the State there is 
a Probate Court having one judge only, whose term of office 
is four years. The court is always open for the transaction 
of business. It has the power to take the probate of wills, 
to settle the estates of deceased persons, and to appoint 
guardians for minors and take charge of the estates of 
minors. 

The business of this court is of the greatest importance 
to every community, because sooner or later, all the prop- 
erty in every county must pass through the hands of the 
court and be administered under its direction. It is, there- 
fore, necessary that its affairs should be managed in an 
honest and competent manner, as it deals with the prop- 
erty of widows and orphans. 



* The City of Detroit formerly had a Superior Court, having the same jurisdiction 
as the Circuit Court, except that it was limited to persons living in that city. This 
court was abolished some years ago. 

** Proceedings of this kind constitute an exercise of the right of eminent domain. 
For an explanation of this right, see Chapter XXIII. 



174 STATE GOVERNMENT 

Court of Mediation and Arbitration. — Owing to the 
growing frequency of disputes between employers and em- 
ployes, this court has been created to bring about the ami- 
cable adjustment of all such matters. The court is com- 
posed of three members, appointed by the governor for a 
term of three years. 

Whenever any grievance or dispute of any kind arises 
betwen any employer and his employes, the parties to the 
controversy may submit the same to this court for investi- 
gation and determination. The court also has power to in- 
vestigate strikes and lock-outs, and it is its duty to try to 
effect by mediation an amicable settlement of such troubles. 

Justices of the Peace. — These magistrates are elected 
at the annual town meeting in each town, and constitute 
a part of the judicial system of the State. No more than 
four of them can be elected in each township. They have a 
limited civil and criminal jurisdiction, throughout the 
county, and are authorized by law to administer oaths, take 
acknowledgments of deeds and other conveyances, and to 
perform the marriage ceremony. 

Generally speaking, justices of the peace have jurisdic- 
tion in civil cases where no more than three hundred dollars 
is involved, except in cases affecting the title to real estate 
or in suits against the legal representatives of deceased 
persons. 

They have jurisdiction over quite a large number of crim- 
inal cases of a minor character, and of all offenses punish- 
able by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by 
imprisonment for not more than three months, or both. In 
criminal cases of greater importance, they sit as examin- 
ing magistrates, and bind over the accused to await the 
action of a court of higher jurisdiction. 

Circuit Court Commissioners. — These are judicial 



STATE GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN 175 

officers elected by the people every two years. Each county 
elects one of these commissioners, and in counties having 
more than twenty thousand inhabitants, two are elected. 

The Commissioner is an assistant to the Circuit Court, 
and has the right to exercise some of the powers of a judge. 
Among his duties, are the taking of testimony in chancery 
proceedings, and computing the amounts due on mortgages, 
stating accounts between litigants, and conducting judicial 
sales. 

Clerks of Courts. — These officers, although not per- 
forming judicial duties, may be described properly in con- 
nection with that branch of the government, because the 
clerk is an indispensable officer of the court. Without a 
clerk, a court cannot do business any more than it can act 
without a judge. In this connection, we shall speak of the 
clerks of all the courts, and give a general statement of 
the character of their duties, which are similar in all cases. 

It is the duty of the clerk of a court to have an office in a 
fixed place in the courthouse, and to keep regular office 
hours. He is the keeper of the seal of the court, and is re- 
quired to attend court in person when it is practicable to do 
so, but, when necessary, may appoint deputies, for whose 
conduct and acts he is responsible. The clerk is required to 
preserve all the files and papers relating to the various cases 
and other business before the court, and to keep a com- 
plete record of all of the proceedings, including the judg- 
ments, decrees and orders, of the court with which he is con- 
nected. For this purpose he must keep a general docket, in 
which all suits are entered, and proper indices to all of the 
books of record, so that there may be a ready and easy refer- 
ence to them when desired. 

This brief general statement does not convey an adequate 
idea of the numerous important functions which are per- 



176 STATE GOVERNMENT 

formed by the clerks of the courts, or of the vast volume 
of business which passes through their offices, but as a fa- 
miliarity with all of these details is not needed by any ex- 
cept members of the legal profession and others having busi- 
ness with the courts, no further statement will be given con- 
cerning them. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN MICHIGAN. 

County Government in General. — We have learned 
something of the county system of government as it was 
introduced in the colony of Virginia, and afterwards 
brought into the Northwest Territory by settlers from Vir- 
ginia, and have seen that, like most of our political institu- 
tions, it is of English origin. Each State of the Union ex- 
cept Louisiana* is divided into counties, varying in size 
and population; therefore county government is general 
throughout the United States. 

The county is a subdivision and agency of the State, 
created for convenience in administering the affairs of the 
State government. It is an institution of ancient origin, 
having a history full of interest to students of civil affairs. 
The county in England is older than the kingdom itself. 
It originated with the union of two or more clans into a 
tribe and their settlement in a fixed dwelling place, after 
which, in a comparatively short time, they assumed the 
form of a monarchy and the chief became known as a 
king. 

When the Anglo-Saxon tribes invaded England and set- 
tled in different parts of the island, they created a number 
of small kingdoms, independent of each other. Afterward, 
when the government became centralized and subject to 
one responsible head, these individual kingdoms continued 



* Louisiana is divided into parishes for purposes of local government. 

(177) 



178 STATE GOVERNMENT 

their existence, and were known as counties. Thus the 
growth of the county in England has been essentially dif- 
ferent from its development in the United States. In Eng- 
land the kingdom was created by a union of the counties, 
but in the United States the counties have been formed 
by a subdivision of the State. 

The legislature of each State controls the division of 
the State into counties, all of which are created solely by 
legislative act. A county is endowed with certain func- 
tions, giving it the character of a corporation. It can sue 
in the courts and be sued ; it can act only through its dul> 
qualified officers ; it can purchase such real estate as is 
needed for the uses of the county; it can sell or lease the 
same when no longer needed, and it can make all contracts 
necessary for the proper transaction of the county business. 

The government of the county is, to some extent, divided 
into legislative, executive and judicial branches, although 
the greater portion of the powers exercised by its officers 
come within the executive and judicial branches. 

There are eighty-three counties in Michigan, all of which 
are organized. An organized county is one having the 
necessary officers and political institutions for carrying out 
the purposes for which counties exist. 

Constitutional Provisions. — For purposes of local 
government, Michigan was divided into counties before it 
became a State, and the county system of government was 
continued under the Constitutions of 1837 an ^ 1850. The 
Constitution of 1850 recognized these subdivisions of the 
State as they existed at the time of its adoption. 

The latter instrument made no change in the number or 
boundaries of the counties, but restricted the power of the 
legislature in respect thereto, by providing that no county 
shall ever be reduced by the organization of new counties to 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN MICHIGAN 179 

less than sixteen townships, unless a majority of the elect- 
ors residing in each county to be affected by the proposed 
change shall decide in favor of it. 

The Constitution provides for the general government 
of counties by committing the management of their affairs 
to a Board of Supervisors, consisting of one member from 
each township, and such number of representatives from the 
various cities as the legislature may determine. 

It also requires the election every two years of the fol- 
lowing officers, viz : Sheriff, County Clerk, County Treas- 
urer, Register of Deeds and Prosecuting Attorney. The 
Board of Supervisors in any county is given power to unite 
the offices of County Clerk and Register of Deeds, or to dis- 
connect the same. 

County Seat. — In each county there is one place desig- 
nated as the county seat, at which the public offices and 
court house of the county are located. The Constitution 
forbids the removal of any county seat which has been 
once established, until the place to which it is proposed 
to be removed shall be designated by two-thirds of the 
Board of Supervisors, and a majority of the electors vot- 
ing thereon shall have voted in favor of the proposed loca- 
tion. 

Board of Supervisors. — This is the legislative body 
of the county. It is composed of the supervisors of the 
several townships and cities of the county, there being one 
supervisor elected in each township and one in each ward 
of the cities in the county. The Board of Supervisors is 
required to meet annually at the court house of the county, 
and they may also hold special meetings at such times and 
places as necessity may require. The presiding officer, 
called the chairman, is elected each year, and the county 
clerk is the clerk of the board. 



180 STATE GOVERNMENT 

They have certain important powers and duties, relating 
to the maintenance of county buildings, such as public 
offices, almshouses, jails, court houses, and the construc- 
tion and management of roads and bridges throughout the 
county. In making rules and regulations for the proper 
administration of county affairs, the Supervisors exercise 
a certain legislative power, subject, however, to the limita- 
tion that all rules and ordinances enacted by them must con- 
form to the laws of the State. 

Speaking generally, the Board of Supervisors represents 
the people of the county in the transaction of all county 
business and in the care and management of county prop- 
erty. It fixes the amount of compensation to be paid for 
services rendered the county, audits and adjusts all claims 
against the county, raises money by taxation for paying 
the expenses of the county government, exercises a general 
supervision over the officers of the county, authorizes town- 
ships to raise money by taxation or borrowing for the 
purpose of building roads or bridges, controls the division 
of the county into townships and representative districts, 
and permits or prohibits the construction of dams and 
bridges upon navigable streams. The duties of this Board 
are so numerous that space will not permit a more detailed 
statement concerning them, especially as certain of them, 
arising under the revenue, school and election laws, will be 
mentioned in subsequent chapters. 

Board of Auditors of Wayne County. — By the cre- 
ation of this Board, the legislature has made special pro- 
vision for the affairs of Wayne County, and has withdrawn 
from the Board of Supervisors of that county many of the 
powers exercised by such boards in other counties. 

The Board of Auditors for Wayne County is composed 
of three persons, one of whom is elected each year. Two 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN MICHIGAN 181 

of these auditors must be residents of Detroit. The mem- 
ber whose term of office will expire soonest is chairman of 
the Board, and a clerk is appointed by vote of the Board. 
Regular sessions of the Board are held at least twice in 
each week, and meetings may be held at such other times as 
the Board shall deem necessary. 

The auditors have power to examine the books and 
vouchers of county officers, to determine and report to the 
supervisors the amount of money required to be raised by 
taxation, to appoint the subordinate officers necessary for 
the proper administration of county affairs, to fix the com- 
pensation of such officers, to audit and adjust claims 
against the county, and in general, to exercise all of the 
powers of a Board of Supervisors, except those relating to 
the assessment and collection of taxes.* 

Other County Officers. — The Clerk. — This officer is 
required to maintain an office at the seat of justice in the 
county, and is the keeper of the seal of the county, which 
must be used by him in numerous cases where he is required 
by law to authenticate his acts by the use of an official 
seal. He has the custody of all the records, books and 
papers of the county. He acts as the clerk of the Board of 
Supervisors, keeps an accurate record of its proceedings, 
as well as of all official accounts filed in his office, and all 
details relating to the same. He is required to give to all 
persons demanding the same, and paying the lawful fee 
therefor, a copy of any record of the proceedings of said 
Board. He must also perform such other duties as may 
be required of him by the Board. Under this sweeping pro- 
vision, he has numerous duties under different statutes of 
the State. 



* The duties of Boards of Supervisors with reference to the assessment and col- 
lection of taxes are described in Chapter XXIII 



182 STATE GOVERNMENT 

He is also the clerk of the circuit court of the county, and 
in that capacity has the care and custody of the seal and of 
all files and records of the court, and is present at all its 
sessions, either in person or by deputy.* 

The County Clerk is elected by a vote of the people, and 
holds his office for a term of two years. 

The Sheriff. — The Sheriff is one of the most important 
executive officers of the county. He is elected by the peo- 
ple for a term of two years, and cannot hold the office for 
more than four years in any period of six years. The office 
of sheriff originated in England, and is of great antiquity.** 

It is the duty of the sheriff to execute the orders of the 
various courts of the county. If the courts have decided 
that one citizen is entitled to recover from another the 
amount of a debt owing him, and the debtor is unable to 
pay his creditor the amount due in cash, it becomes the duty 
of the sheriff, acting under the orders of the court which 
has. heard and determined the matter, to levy upon and sell 
the property of the debtor in order to realize the amount of 
the debt. 

If the court has decided that a person guilty of an at- 
tempt to rob the house of a citizen, or commit other crim- 
inal offense, it is the duty of the sheriff to take possession 
of the person who is convicted upon such a charge, and con- 
fine him in the county jail, or to convey him to the State 
prison. 

The sheriff is also the custodian of the jail and court- 
house, and sometimes of other public buildings. He serves 
all writs issued by the courts and provides food for the 
prisoners in the county jail. 



* See page 175 for a description of his duties in this capacity. 

** " By some authorities the office of Sheriff is said to have been created by King 
Alfred, but others are of the opinion that the office is of still greater antiquity, and 
that it existed in the time of the Romans." Bouvier's Law Dictionary. 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN MICHIGAN 183 

In case of a riot or other unlawful assemblage of persons 
within the county, it is the duty of the sheriff to enforce and 
maintain the law, and to this end he has the right to call 
upon any and all able-bodied citizens in the county to assist 
him. This force when called into action by the sheriff is 
termed the posse comitatus, that is, the power of the county. 
Thus he and his deputies perform the duties in the county 
which are delegated to police officers in the city. 

Treasurer. — The County Treasurer must receive and 
hold, subject to the order of the proper county officers, all 
the funds belonging to the county. The county funds are 
derived from taxation, from fees paid by litigants in the 
courts of the county, and from fines imposed upon per- 
sons who have violated the laws. 

He is required to keep accurate accounts, showing all 
moneys, revenues and funds received by him, and must re- 
port to the Board of Supervisors, from time to time, the 
condition of the funds of the county. 

He is elected by vote of the people, and, like the sheriff, 
cannot hold the office for more than two years in any period 
of six years. 

The Register of Deeds. — This is an officer of great im- 
portance, as will appear when his duties are explained. 
He is elected by the people at the general election of county 
officers, and holds office for a term of two years. It is the 
duty of the register of deeds to receive and record, in 
properly bound books provided especially for that purpose 
by the Board of Supervisors, all instruments in writing 
which are filed in his office. 

These instruments are those which relate to the trans- 
fer of real estate and personal property, either by act of the 
parties, as when a deed or mortgage is executed, or by oper- 
ation of law, as when a decree of court has been entered 



184 STATE GOVERNMENT 

affecting the title to real estate. The register of deeds is 
required, immediately on receipt of any instrument to be 
recorded, to enter in the order of its reception the names 
of the parties to the instrument, its date, the day of the 
month, hour and year of filing the same, and a brief descrip- 
tion of the property specified in the instrument. All these 
instruments are required to be copied at length into proper 
books of record and suitable indices to be made and kept, 
so that a ready reference can be had at any time to the 
records. 

Among the different kinds of instruments which are filed 
in the office of the register of deeds the most important are 
deeds, mortgages, trust deeds, maps and plats and certified 
copies of judicial proceedings. The greatest accuracy is 
required in keeping the records in this office, because upon 
the sufficiency and correctness of the record depends, in 
many cases, the validity of the title of owners of real estate 
to their property. 

Prosecuting Attorney. — The Prosecuting Attorney is 
the principal law officer of the county. He is elected by 
the people, and holds office for the term of two years. It 
is his duty to prosecute all actions, both civil and crim- 
inal, in which the people of the county are concerned, and 
to give legal advice in all cases in which the State or his 
county may be interested, when such advice is required 
by any civil officers in the discharge of their respective 
official duties. 

He is principally concerned with the prosecution of crim- 
inal offenders against the law, but he also performs many 
other duties imposed upon him by the various statutes of the 
State, such as prosecuting public officers for neglect of duty, 
and public corporations which fail to comply with the laws 
of the State. 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN MICHIGAN 185 

The office is one of great importance, and the incum- 
bent should be possessed of ability and energy, in order to 
meet the demands of his official position. 

Coroners. — Two of these officers are elected in each 
county at the general election held every two years. 

In some cases, the coroner performs the duties of the 
sheriff in executing the processes of courts of law. In case 
a suit is brought against the sheriff, it is the duty of the 
coroner to serve the summons notifying the sheriff to ap- 
pear in court and answer the charges against him, because 
it would be manifestly absurd to require the sheriff to sum- 
mon himself. When there is no sheriff in the county, the 
circuit or the county judge designates one of the coroners 
to act in that capacity until the vacancy is filled, and if the 
sheriff for any cause is committed to the county jail, the 
coroner residing nearest the jail becomes the keeper while 
the sheriff is a prisoner. 

Another important duty imposed upon coroners is to in- 
vestigate and report upon all cases of death from unex- 
plained causes, where there is reason to believe that a crime 
has been committed or a serious accident has occurred. 
For example, if a dead body is found by the side of a 
county highway, possession of the corpse is given to the 
coroner, who summons a jury to ascertain, if possible, what 
caused the death of the person, and whether it was due to 
accident or to the commission of a crime. The investiga- 
tion of a case of this kind is called an inquest. In rural 
sections of the State, inquests are also held by justices of 
the peace. 

County Surveyor.— -This officer is elected by the people 
every two years. It is his duty to make such surveys 
within his county as may be directed by any court or re- 
quested by any person. He must keep a record of all sur- 



186 STATE GOVERNMENT 

veys made by him, and his certificate of any survey is 
accepted as a true statement as to all the facts contained 
in it. 

Drain Commissioner. — The Board of Supervisors of 
each county, at its annual meeting held in the odd numbered 
years, is required to appoint one county drain commissioner. 
This officer has jurisdiction over all drains in the county, 
and supervises the location and construction of this class 
of public improvements. The laws of the State, relating to 
the construction of drains and drainage ditches, are very 
voluminous, and it is sufficient to say that in all proceedings 
under them, the drain commissioner is the executive officer 
of the county. 

County Agent. — This is an officer appointed by the gov- 
ernor who acts as an agent of the State Board of Correc- 
tions and Charities in the care of juvenile offenders and de- 
pendent children. He has power to investigate individual 
cases and see that the welfare of unfortunate children is 
protected. 

Notaries Public. — These officers deserve mention in our 
study, because nearly every one has occasion at some time 
to call upon one of them to act in his official capacity. 

They are appointed by the governor, with the consent 
of the senate, and they have power to administer oaths and 
certify to the proper execution and acknowledgement of 
legal documents. 

Conclusion. — Remembering what has been said in a 
former chapter, concerning the Virginia County, it is well 
to note the differences between county government in Mich- 
igan and under the Virginia system. Counties were estab- 
lished in Michigan by Governor Hull for judicial purposes, 
one of the objects for which they existed in old Virginia, 



COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN MICHIGAN 187 

and at that time fully one fourth of the laws of Michigan 
were taken from the statutes of Virginia. 

Notwithstanding this influence, the count}' government 
has never been the means by which the people of Michigan 
regulated their local affairs, as was the case in Virginia, but, 
as stated at the beginning of the chapter, the Michigan 
county has always been the agency created by the State for 
the purpose of performing some of the functions of govern- 
ment, principal among which is the administration of justice 
between citizens. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE GOVERNMENT. 

After what has been stated in former chapters concerning 
the origin of township government in this country, and the 
reasons which caused it to become one of the established 
institutions of the State of Michigan, we are now prepared 
to enter directly upon the consideration of the principal 
features of this kind of local government as it exists in 
our State. 

This form of government in the State of Michigan is 
used in rural communities, where the population is scat- 
tered. It is the agency by which the people in these com- 
munities exercise their rights of local self-government, and, 
therefore, deserves an important place in our study. In 
this State there are no populous places governed entirely by 
the township system, such as is the case in the New England 
States and was the case in the Town of Boston before it 
adopted a city charter. In the State of Michigan, as soon 
as any considerable number of people inhabit a small and 
compact territory, it follows almost invariably that a village 
or city organization is adopted, and that the township gov- 
ernment ceases to be the agency for regulating the local 
affairs. 

Organization of Towns.— As explained in a former 
chapter, the development of the township system in Michi- 

(188) 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT 189 

gan began with the influx of settlers from the Eastern, and 
particularly from the New England, States. These people 
had been accustomed to that system of local government in 
the homes which they had left, and it was natural that they 
should wish to establish the institution in the frontier set- 
tlements of their adopted State. 

When the Constitution of 1850 was adopted, townships 
had been organized in all settled portions of the State, and 
the Constitution recognized the existence of these political 
divisions of the State by certain provisions relating to them. 

These provisions direct that in each organized township 
there shall be elected annually, one supervisor, one clerk, 
who shall be a school inspector, one commissioner of high- 
ways, one treasurer, one school inspector, not more than 
four justices of the peace, and constables, and one overseer 
of highways for each highway district. The Constitution 
also directs that the powers and duties of these officers 
and of the township organization shall be prescribed by the 
legislature. 

The general law of the State gives the Board of Super- 
visors of each county the power to organize new townships 
and to divide existing townships and to alter their boun- 
daries when necessity requires such action to be taken. 

Corporate Power of Towns. — The legislature has en- 
dowed towns in this State with some corporate capacities, 
including the power to sue and be sued, to acquire property 
by purchase, gift or devise, to hold it for the use of the In- 
habitants, to sell and convey the same, and to make all con- 
tracts that may be necessary for the proper exercise of the 
powers of the town. The corporate powers are so limited 
by law that it has been customary to designate this kind of 
a municipal corporation as a quasi-municipal corporation, 



190 STATE GOVERNMENT 

to distinguish it from municipal corporations proper, such 
as cities and villages.* 

At any legal town meeting the voters have power to 
raise by taxation such sums of money as they may deem 
necessary for ordinary and contingent expenses, not ex- 
ceeding one thousand dollars in any one year. Any sum of 
money in excess of that amount can be appropriated only 
for some specific purpose, set forth in the records of the 
town, and must be used for that purpose solely. 

The voters at a town meeting also have power to make 
provision for the erection of a town hall or other public 
building for the use of the inhabitants for township pur- 
poses ; to adopt by-laws, and to regulate and restrain the 
running at large of cattle, horses, swine, sheep and other 
animals, and for directing and managing the prudential 
affairs of the township; to levy a tax sufficient to keep all 
highways, streets, bridges, sidewalks and culverts in the 
township in good repair; to elect a library board of six 
directors when the establishment of a public library has 
been authorized by a vote of the people; to regulate and 
control the keeping of gunpowder in any building within 
the corporate limits ; to provide . for the protection of the 
inhabitants against contagious diseases by establishing a 
quarantine, and by the erection and maintenance of a hos- 
pital for the treatment of such diseases. 

The foregoing are some of the powers which the people 
can exercise at a town meeting in the State of Michigan. 
In addition to these powers, they exercise many others 

*A municipal corporation proper may be defined briefly as a body politic and 
corporate created by act of the legislature whereby the inhabitants of a particular 
place are incorporated for the purpose of local government. Cities and villages are 
examples of municipal corporations proper, as they have all the powers needed for 
a complete system of local government. 

Quasi-municipal corporations have certain limited powers only. They are agen- 
cies of the State created for the purposes of civil government generally, and not for 
the regulation of the local affairs of a compact community solely. Counties and 
school districts are corporations of this class. 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT 191 

through the medium of their officers elected at the annual 
town meeting, and when the functions of these officers have 
been described, it will be seen that the township system 
affords a complete scheme for regulating the public affairs 
of a rural community. 

The Town Meeting. — The annual township meeting is 
held on the first Monday of April, at the place designated by 
law, no special notice of the time and place of meeting 
being given. 

At this meeting, there must be elected a Supervisor, 
Clerk, Treasurer, School Inspector, Commissioner of High- 
ways, Justices of the Peace, Constables, and Overseers of 
Highways. 

As in the New England town meeting, the presiding offi- 
cer is called the Moderator, and the town clerk acts as sec- 
retary of the meeting, and keeps a faithful record of all of 
its proceedings. The Supervisor, if present, acts as Moder- 
ator, but in his absence an inspector of election may act in 
his place or a moderator may be chosen by the meeting. 

The ordinary rules of parliamentary procedure are ob- 
served in the transaction of business at the township meet- 
ing, and persons acting in a disorderly manner may be re- 
moved from the meeting place by the constables and fined 
for their misbehavior. 

The election of township officers is by ballot and the 
same election inspectors* serve as in the case of a general 
election. The polls are open at nine o'clock in the forenoon 
and are closed between the hours of three and six o'clock 
in the afternoon, one hour's notice of the closing of the polls 
being required to be given. The town meeting for the 
transaction of miscellaneous business is held at one o'clock 



* For a description of the duties of these officers, see Chapter XXI, 



192 STATE GOVERNMENT 

on the afternoon of the day of an annual meeting, and at 
this session all of the business of the town must be trans- 
acted, except the election of officers. All questions are de- 
termined by a majority of the electors voting, and the 
Moderator must ascertain and declare the result of the 
vote upon each question. 

Special township meetings may be held for the purpose 
of choosing officers to fill any vacancies that may occur, 
or to transact any other lawful business. These meetings 
are ordered by the township board* upon the written peti- 
tion of twelve electors of the township, and the clerk is 
required to give notice of the time and place of holding 
such meetings. 

Township Officers. — Supervisor. — The Supervisor is 
the principal executive officer of the township. He is a 
member of the Board of Supervisors of the county, and is 
required, as the representative of his township, to attend 
all the meetings of that body. He is the township assessor 
of taxes, and must keep all books, assessment rolls, and 
papers, belonging to his office, in some safe and suitable 
place, and deliver the same on demand to his successor 
in office, and he is the agent of his township for the transac- 
tion of all legal business. Law suits on behalf of the town- 
ship are brought by him, and he attends to the defense of all 
actions instituted against the township. 

Clerk. — The Township Clerk has the custody of all rec- 
ords, books and papers of the town, and of all certificates 
of oaths and other papers required by law to be filed in 
his office. He keeps a record of the proceedings of all town 
meetings, and of all orders and directions and all by-laws, 
rules and regulations that are made at the meetings. He 



* See page 195. 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT 193 

keeps an account with the township treasurer, showing the 
receipts and disbursements of that officer, and also separate 
accounts with each of the funds belonging to the township, 
so that the condition of the same can be readily ascertained 
at all times. 

Treasurer. — This officer receives and takes charge of all 
moneys belonging to the township, and must account for 
the same under the order of the township. He is required 
to keep a just and true account of the receipts and expendi- 
tures of all moneys coming into his hands, in a book pro- 
vided by the township, and to be delivered to his successor 
in office. No person can be elected to the office of treas- 
urer for more than two years in succession. 

Constables. — The number of these officers to be elected is 
determined by the township meeting, but no more than 
four can be chosen in any township. Constables are the 
executive officers of the courts held by justices of the peace, 
and perform the same functions by way of executing the 
orders of the court as are performed by the sheriffs and 
their deputies in courts of record. 

Commissioner of Highways. — The Commissioner of 
Highways in each town has charge of the roads and bridges, 
and it is his duty to keep the same in repair, and to improve 
them as far as practicable. The work on the roads must be 
done by the best known methods of roadmaking, by proper 
grading, and thorough draining. The Commissioner has 
power, and it is his duty, to take general charge of high- 
ways throughout the town, and to see that they are properly 
constructed and maintained. 

The laws of the State of Michigan, relative to the con- 
struction and maintenance of roads and bridges, and the 
duties and powers of highway commissioners in respect 
thereto, are too numerous to be detailed, and the foregoing 



194 STATE GOVERNMENT 

general statement will suffice for the purposes of our study. 
The Commissioner divides his township into as many road 
districts as he may think necessary, and after a township has 
been organized for fifteen years, these districts can be 
altered only with the approval of the township board. 

Overseers of Highways. — One of these officers for each 
road district in the township is chosen at the annual town 
meeting. He supervises labor performed upon the high- 
ways, and provides the necessary tools and utensils for do- 
ing this work in a proper manner, investigates the condi- 
tions of roads and bridges, so that the same may be kept in 
a safe condition, and has general superintendence of the 
roads, bridges and culverts in his district. 

Generally speaking, he acts under the direction of the 
highway commissioner, but in the absence of that officer, 
and in other cases of necessity, he has power to act inde- 
pendently. He performs a variety of duties under differ- 
ent statutes, such as enforcing the laws enacted to prevent 
the growth and spread of Canada thistles and milkweed, and 
seizing animals unlawfully running at large in his district. 

In the New England town, as we have seen,* the Fence 
Viewer was an independent officer, but in the Michigan 
township the duties of that office are performed by the 
Overseer of Highways. When acting in that capacity, it 
is the duty of the Overseer to compel owners of land to 
observe the laws of the State, relating to partition fences, 
and to see that proper fences are built and maintained. 

Term of Office. — The term of office of all township 
officers is one year, with the exception of School Inspect- 
ors,** who serve for two years, and justices of the peace, 
who are elected for a period of four years. 



* See page 133. 

** The duties of this office are described in Chapter XXII. 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT 195 

The Town Board. — This is an executive committee of 
town officers, whose duties correspond somewhat to those 
of the Selectmen in the New England town, in that it has 
power to perform many of the functions of government 
during the intervals between the annual township meetings, 
and in cases of emergency. It is composed of the Super- 
visor, the Clerk, and the two Justices of the Peace whose 
terms of office will soonest expire, any three of whom con- 
stitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 

The Board is required to meet on the Tuesday preceding 
the annual township meeting, for the purpose of auditing 
and settling all claims against the township, and to ex- 
amine the accounts of the treasurer and other officers hav- 
ing charge of the receipt or disbursement of public money. 
In case the voters at the annual township meeting fail to 
make provision for defraying the ordinary township ex- 
penses, the Board is authorized to appropriate such sums 
as may be needed for that purpose, not exceeding one thou- 
sand dollars in any one year. 

The laws of the State confer upon the members of the 
Township Board many powers and impose upon them many 
duties, the proper exercise and performance of which are 
essential to the welfare of the community. Among these 
may be mentioned the power to license and regulate the- 
atrical exhibitions and public shows, to appoint commis- 
sioners for the destruction of noxious weeds, to supervise 
the work of repairing roads and bridges, under the charge 
of the highway commissioner, and to provide standard 
weights and measures to be kept by the township clerk and 
used for testing the weights and measures employed in 
the township. 

Comparison with the New England Towns. — Such, 
in brief, is the framework of township government as it 



196 STATE GOVERNMENT 

exists in the State of Michigan, and in the other states 
created out of the Northwest Territory. Although differ- 
ing in details, it is substantially the form of government 
which was provided by the New England town meeting, 
and generally it is found to be the best and most satisfactory 
method of administering the local affairs in rural com- 
munities, because through its agency the power of local gov- 
ernment is left in the hands of the people whose interests 
are directly affected. 

Organization of Villages. — As the population of any 
community increases and the territory becomes thickly set- 
tled, the village is formed and the village form of govern- 
ment supersedes that of the town. 

A village may be formed whenever any part of a town- 
ship or townships containing not less than one square mile 
shall have resident thereon a population of at least three 
hundred inhabitants. The method of procedure is by a 
petition, which must be signed by at least thirty legal voters 
of the proposed village, and addressed to the County Board 
of Supervisors, which hears and determines the matter, and 
if the petition is granted, directs the time and place for 
holding the first election of village officers. 

Any village organized in this way is a body politic and 
corporate under the name specified in the petition for its 
organization, or given to it by the Board of Supervisors, 
and has power, under this name, to make contracts and to 
acquire and own real and personal property necessary for 
the purposes of the municipality. 

Village Officers. — In each village, the following officers 
are elected by the people, namely : a President and six Trus- 
tees, who constitute the Village Council, one Clerk, one 
Treasurer, who is also the Collector of Taxes, and one As- 
sessor. In addition to these officers, the President, with 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT 197 

the consent of the Council, may appoint a Marshal, who 
is the principal police officer of the village, and a Street 
Commissioner, who has charge of the labor, repairs and 
improvements upon the streets, alleys, sidewalks, bridges, 
culverts, drains and public grounds of the village. 

The Council may from time to time by ordinance or reso- 
lution provide for the appointment of such other officers 
as are deemed necessary for the proper administration of 
the affairs of the village. 

All these officers are elected or appointed for the term of 
one year, with the exception of the Trustees, whose term 
of office is two years. At the first election, six Trustees are 
chosen, three of whom hold office for one year, and three 
for two years. At subsequent annual elections three Trus- 
tees are elected, who hold office for two years. By reason 
of this provision, it follows that the Village Council always 
contains at least three members who have had some experi- 
ence in the discharge of their duties. 

The Board of Trustees of a village has substantially the 
same powers and duties as the City Council of a city, and 
the President of the village performs substantially the same 
functions as the Mayor of a city. The powers and duties 
of the President and Trustees of a village will not be stated 
in detail at this time, for the reason that in the following 
chapter the government of a city will be explained, and 
everything therein contained as to the powers and duties of 
the Mayor and Aldermen of the city is equally applicable 
to the President and Trustees of the village. For the same 
reason, it is not deemed advisable to describe in detail the 
duties of the executive officers of villages, as they corres- 
pond quite closely to the duties of the same officers in town- 
ships and cities. 



CHAPTER XX. 
THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 

The system of municipal government in vogue in this 
country has been the least successful of all of our political 
institutions. The scheme of government provided by our 
forefathers has been satisfactory in national and state af- 
fairs, but this has not been the case in the government of 
cities. The problems of municipal government received but 
little attention from them, doubtless because they believed 
that the citizens of a community should have sole charge of 
the regulation of local affairs. Even if they had considered 
it a part of their duty to provide a scheme for municipal 
government, it is doubtful if such a scheme would now be 
successful, for the reason that the questions which now con - 
front those who are charged with the administration of city 
affairs did not exist in the latter part of the eighteenth cen^ 
tury. 

When the Constitution of the United States took effect 
in the year 1789 there were no large cities in the country. 
The largest city was Philadelphia, which had a population 
of about 31,000 inhabitants. Next in size was New York, 
with a population of 23,000, then came Boston with a popu- 
lation of 18,000. These were the largest cities in the orig- 
inal thirteen States, and there were scarcely a dozen others 
with a population of 5,000 inhabitants each, so it is apparent 
that questions of municipal government could not have been 

(198) 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES 199 

troublesome in those days, because it is not in small cities 
that the present abuses exist. 

In noting the marked changes which have taken place in 
the conditions of city life, an eminent historian draws a 
vivid picture of the strange world in which Washington 
would find himself were he to walk the streets of one of our 
modern cities, when he says : " He never in his life saw a 
flagstone sidewalk nor an asphalted street, nor a pane of 
glass "six feet square. He never heard a factory whistle; 
he never saw a building ten stories high, nor an elevator, 
nor a gas jet, nor an electric light; he never saw a hot-air 
furnace, nor entered a room warmed by steam; he never 
struck a match, nor sent a telegram, nor spoke through a 
telephone, nor touched an electric bell ; he never saw a horse 
car, nor an omnibus, nor a trolley car, nor a ferry boat. 
Fancy him boarding a street car to take a ride ! He would 
probably pay his fare with a nickel, but the nickel is a coin 
he never saw. Fancy him staring from the window at a 
fence bright with theatrical posters, or at a man rushing 
by on a bicycle."* 

This quotation, specifying only a few of the incidents of 
life in a great city, illustrates the changes which have taken 
place between the year 1789 and the present day, and it is 
these changes that have called our present municipal gov- 
ernments into existence. The regulation and construction 
of sidewalks and of buildings, and the elevators in them, 
the lighting of streets by gas and electricity, the supervision 
of street railways and of carriages, bicycles and pedestri- 
ans upon the public strets are subjects of municipal regula- 
tion which were unknown in the days of Washington. 



*McMaster's School History of the United States, page 178, American Book 
Company, 1897 



200 STATE GOVERNMENT 

Origin of the Modern City. — Municipal government 
in the United States is derived from that of English cities, 
having been modified from time to time as circumstances 
required, or seemed to require, so that the system now 
represents an irregular growth of over a hundred years, 
instead of a systematic, conservative and well defined plan, 
such as exists in our national and State government. 

The origin of the modern city dates back to the history of 
England of about the eleventh century, when towns and 
cities began to grow in importance and received royal re- 
ognition. The government of these cities originated with 
the guilds, or organizations of artisans. In those times 
each of the different trades found it necessary to form or- 
ganizations for their mutual protection. These associa- 
tions soon grew to be the most important features of in- 
dustrial life in the cities in which they existed. Each guild 
had its own guild hall and held its own meetings. The 
chief man of the guild was termed an alderman, and the 
government of the cities came to be vested in the aldermen 
representing the different guilds. From their own number 
the aldermen elected a chief executive officer, styled the 
Mayor. Thus the government of the modern English city 
began, and, like that of the town and the county, has come 
down to us modified to suit present conditions of life. 

When the Constitution of the United States was adopted 
nearly all of the cities were governed on the plan of the New 
England town meeting, except the city of New York, which 
had the first city government in this country. The town 
meeting was satisfactory until the cities became so large 
that the annual meetings of the citizens were unwieldy 
from the number attending them, and each individual citizen 
could no longer have a voice in public affairs. In such 
a case an application would be made to the State legis- 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES 201 

lature asking that a charter be granted providing a scheme 
of government and incorporating the city as a body politic. 
Under such charters the people no longer controlled public 
affairs by their individual vote and acts, but the functions of 
government were performed by representatives elected by 
the people. 

Incorporation of Cities.— This method of procedure 
has been employed in the State of Michigan, and the gov- 
ernments of all cities in the State, whether incorporated 
by special act of the legislature, or by general law, have 
the same general characteristics, although in some cases dif- 
fering as to minor details. 

The general laws of the State providing for the incor- 
poration of cities of the fourth class, will be taken as the 
basis for describing the manner in which cities are organ- 
ized, as well as the powers of the city government, and 
the functions of its officers.* Under this law, all cities hav- 
ing a population not exceeding ten thousand inhabitants 
are cities of the fourth class. Any incorporated village 
having a population of not less than three thousand nor 
more than ten thousand inhabitants may become a city of 
this class, upon compliance with the law. 

The law provides that any one hundred or more free- 
holders, residing in the village, may present to the village 
council a petition, setting forth the population as shown 
by the last census, and requesting that the village be in- 
corporated as a city of the fourth class. If the statement 
of the population contained in the petition is true, it then 
becomes the duty of the council to submit the question 



* Owing to the fact that the government of the larger cities of the State is pre- 
scribed by a special charter in each case, it is impossible to select any one of them 
as a type for all without confining the description of its government to general state- 
ments solely. 



202 STATE GOVERNMENT 

of incorporating as a city to the voters at the next annual 
village election. 

In case a majority of the votes at this election are in 
favor of the proposition, the council is required to set 
forth in its records a complete record of the election pro- 
ceedings and their result. A certified copy of this record, 
which is called a " declaration of incorporation," is filed in 
the office of the Secretary of State, and a similar copy 
in the office of the County Clerk of the county in which 
the village is located. With the filing of these declara- 
tions, the process of incorporating as a city is complete, but 
the village officers continue to perform their duties until 
the first election of city officers, which is held on the first 
Monday in April next after the filing of the declaration 
of incorporation in the office of the Secretary of State. 

A city government, as thus established, has a legislative 
and executive department, whose duties are clearly defined. 
It has no judicial department, except the police courts, 
which determine minor cases of a criminal nature, and jus- 
tice courts whose jurisdiction has already been described. 

The Legislative Department — The power of making 
laws for the government of the city is vested in the city 
council, composed of the mayor, the city clerk, and the 
aldermen, the last named officers being representatives of 
the different wards into which the city is divided. The 
wards vary in number, according to the population and size 
of the city. If the population of the city is less than five 
thousand inhabitants, it is divided into three wards; if the 
city contains a population of more than five thousand in- 
habitants, it may be divided into four wards, and an addi- 
tional ward may be created for every additional two thou- 
sand inhabitants above five thousand and up to ten thousand. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES 203 

In larger cities the number of wards is determined by the 
provisions of the city charter. 

Two aldermen are elected from each ward, and their 
term of office is two years. 

Aldermen. —A person to be an alderman must be a 
qualified voter, and he must reside within the ward for 
which he is elected. He is ineligible if he is a defaulter to 
the city or any other municipal corporation, or if he has 
ever been convicted of malfeasance, bribery, or other cor- 
rupt practice or crime. He must not be interested directly 
or indirectly in any contract to which the city is a party. 
He cannot hold any other office under the city government, 
and he must not be engaged, either individually or as a mem- 
ber of a firm, in any business transaction with the city, or 
with any of its officers, whereby any money is to be paid, 
directly or indirectly, out of the treasury. 

Powers of the City Council. — The laws made by the 
city council are called ordinances, and are as binding upon 
the citizens as the laws of the State and nation, but no city 
council can enact an ordinance which in any way is con- 
trary to the constitution or laws of the State or of the 
United States. 

It may at first appear as if the subjects upon which a 
city council can legislate are few, and that the office of 
alderman or member of such a council is not an important 
one, but the contrary is the case. If we analyze the condi- 
tions of life at the present day, it will be found that a large 
number of matters affecting the daily welfare, happiness and 
health of the citizen come under the authority of a city 
government. So extensive are the powers of a city council 
that the enumeration of them requires forty separate para- 
graphs of the statute, in addition to many sections devoted 



204 STATE GOVERNMENT 

solely to that subject. These powers may be generalized as 
follows : 

i. The city government, through its council, levies all 
taxes necessary for the support of the city government and 
directs its financial affairs. 

2. It controls the police force, which is charged with 
protecting life and property and enforcing the laws in all 
sections of the city, and it establishes and maintains the 
police courts. 

3. It supports a fire department. The necessity of the 
proper management of this department of the city govern- 
ment has been made painfully apparent in cities of the 
United States by a series of great conflagrations which, in 
many cases, have destroyed large portions of the city and 
inflicted an enormous loss upon public and private interests. 

4. It has the care of streets, alleys and public grounds, 
including the regulation of the lighting by gas and elec- 
tricity and the construction and control of a system of 
sewerage. It is important that the streets should be of 
uniform width, with durable pavements, good sidewalks and 
curbs. The question of sewerage and its proper disposal 
is of vital interest, because upon this largely depends the 
health of the people. 

5. It constructs and maintains a system of water- works, 
that all citizens in their homes and places of business may 
receive an ample supply of water both for drinking and 
sanitary purposes. The city council has the power of fram- 
ing laws to provide such a system and to maintain and pre- 
serve its efficiency. 

6. It protects the health of the citizens and prevents the 
spread of contagious diseases by the enactment of necessary 
ordinances and by the appointment of the necessary offi- 
cers to compel an observance of the same. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES 205 

7. It maintains city prisons as an adjunct of the police 
department, in which violators of the law may be confined, 
until such time as their cases are heard by some competent 
court and they are either discharged or committed to the 
county or State institutions. 

8. It supervises and controls the traffic in alcoholic 
liquors, to protect the general welfare of the community. 
The evils of the indulgence in and the misuse of alcoholic 
liquors are apparent in every community, and while the 
manufacture and sale of liquor is not illegal as a general 
rule, still it is necessary to place it under restrictions. 

Therefore, it is provided that any one wishing to en- 
gage in the sale of liquor, after complying with the laws 
of the State and the United States relating thereto, is also 
obliged to obtain a license from the city government. These 
licenses should be issued only to responsible persons, who 
will observe the laws governing the liquor traffic. Unfor- 
tunately, in many of our large cities these precautions are 
not observed, and much of the crime and unhappiness con- 
nected with life in a great city can be traced to the negli- 
gence of city officials in respect to this subject. 

9. The regulation of street railroads is another of the 
important duties to be performed by the city government. 
The city council can grant to companies or individuals 
a charter, permitting them to operate railroads upon the 
streets of the city. 

These railroads, in large cities, have become enormously 
profitable, and frequently the company, after its right to 
conduct a railroad has become vested, has managed its af- 
fairs with too little regard for the comfort and convenience 
of the public. It is the duty of the city council in granting 
such charters to see that proper precautions are taken to 
protect the citizens. The streets are public property, and 



206 STATE GOVERNMENT 

persons or corporations using them for profit should be re- 
quired to pay to the city government a proper compensa- 
tion for their use, and to provide suitable accommodations 
for the convenience of the people at a reasonable price. 

10. The city council has authority to regulate the erection 
of private buildings. This may seem an invasion of the 
right of an owner of land to erect a building of such size and 
style of construction as he chooses, but reflection will show 
that unless proper precautions are taken to erect buildings 
of such materials as to prevent the rapid spread of fire, 
and of such construction as to prevent accidents to their 
occupants and people passing upon the streets, and with 
such sanitary arrangements as will protect the health of the 
community, the public is likely to suffer. 

ii. It supervises the management of the charities, public 
hospitals, asylums, parks and public grounds belonging to 
the city. 

12. It has the power to prohibit any offensive or un- 
wholesome business or establishment within the city limits 
and to direct the location and regulate the use and construc- 
tion of breweries, packing houses, distilleries, livery stables, 
blacksmith shops, soap factories and other buildings used 
for purposes that may be obnoxious to the citizens. 

13. It can establish public libraries and reading rooms for 
the free use of the people and can levy taxes for the sup- 
port of the same. 

The foregoing are among the more important powers and 
duties of the city government. While not complete, this 
summary serves to show the complexity of life in a great 
city and the necessity for an intelligent management of 
public affairs. 

The Executive Department— The Mayor.— The ex- 
ecutive department of the city is represented by the mayor, 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES 207 

who is the chief executive officer and is elected by the peo- 
ple for a term of one year. He is vested with some control 
over the legislative acts of the city council, as he is the 
presiding officer of that body, and has the power of vetoing 
any measure which he may deem prejudicial to the public 
interest. In case of a veto a two thirds vote of the entire 
city council is required to enact the law. 

The Mayor has the authority to appoint all non-elective 
officers of the city, and to fill all vacancies in such offices by 
and with the advice and consent of the city council. This 
power is one of great importance, because by virtue of it, 
in large cities, a mayor is able to fill numerous offices, and 
upon the character of his appointments depends the effi- 
ciency of the public service. The tendency at the present 
time is to curtail this power by the enactment of legislation 
on lines similar to those of the national civil service law, 
described in a preceding chapter*, and everything that has 
been said heretofore as to the necessity for a national civil 
service law applies with equal force to the officers of a 
large city. Upon a formal charge, the mayor can remove 
any officer appointed by him, if, in his opinion, the inter- 
ests of the city demand such removal. 

He may exercise within the city limits the powers of the 
sheriff to suppress disorder and keep the peace. By virtue 
of his office he may act as the head of any of the de- 
partments. He is required to perform all duties prescribed 
by the city ordinances, to see that the laws and ordinances 
are faithfully executed, to give to the city council, from 
time to time, information concerning the affairs of the 
city, and to recommend such measures as he may deem 
proper. In case of the absence Or disability of the 

* See page 81. 



208 State government 

Mayor, or of any vacancy in his office, the president of the 
city council acts as mayor temporarily. 

Clerk. — The city clerk has the custody of the corporate 
seal of the city and all papers and records belonging to the 
city. He must attend all meetings of the city council, keep 
a record of its proceedings, and furnish certified copies of 
the same whenever required. In a book specifically pre- 
pared for that purpose, he records all ordinances passed by 
"the city council, and upon it he makes a memorandum of the 
date of the passage and other proceedings necessary to 
show that the ordinance has been legally adopted by the 
city council. He countersigns and registers all licenses 
granted by the city, and has all the powers of a township 
clerk*, so far as the same are required to be performed 
within a city. He is the general accountant of the city. 
In this capacity, he examines and adjusts all claims against 
the municipality, and reports to the council as to their vali- 
dity. If a claim is allowed against the city, the clerk draws 
his warrant upon the treasurer for its payment. 

The clerk exercises a general supervision over the finan- 
cial affairs of the city, and the books and accounts of all 
officers charged with the receipt, collection or disbursement 
of the public funds. He must countersign and register all 
bonds issued by the city, and keep a list of all its property 
and effects, as well as its debts and liabilities. 

Treasurer.— The city treasurer is required by law to 
receive all moneys belonging to the city, and to keep his 
accounts in such a manner as the law directs, which accounts 
are always subject to the inspection of the city council. 
Every person paying money into the treasury receives from 
him a receipt, specifying the date and purpose of payment. 
He is obliged to furnish to the clerk a monthly statement 



* See page 192. 






THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES 209 

of the financial affairs of the city, and to make and present 
to the council annually a full and detailed statement of the 
receipts and disbursements of the treasury. He can pay 
out money only upon warrants drawn upon him, which must 
be signed by the clerk and countersigned by the mayor.* 

The city treasurer is also the custodian of all school 
and library funds belonging to the school district, and pays 
them out upon the warrants of the board of education of the 
dictrict. He is required to keep all public money in his 
charge separate and distinct from his own funds, and is 
strictly prohibited from using for his own benefit any of the 
funds of the municipality or the school district of which 
he is treasurer. 

Comptroller. — In some cities, the charter provides for 
the appointment of a comptroller, who has general super- 
vision of the financial affairs of the city, and performs those 
duties in relation to the city finances, which in other cities 
are imposed upon the clerk. 

Justices of the Peace. — Two of these officers are elect- 
ed by the people in each city of the fourth class. They have 
the same jurisdiction and powers in civil and criminal mat- 
ters as are conferred upon justices of the peace by the gen- 
eral laws of the State* and in addition have authority to 
hear and determine all cases arising under the ordinances 
of the city. All fines, penalties and forfeitures collected 
by any justice of the peace for violations of the laws of 
the State or of the ordinances of the city must be paid 
over to the city treasurer on or before the first day of the 
month next succeeding the date of their collection. 

Other Executive Officers.— The law provides for the 
appointment by the mayor, with the approval of the city 
council, of the following officers, viz : City Attorney, City 

* See page 174. 



210 STATE GOVERNMENT 

Marshal, Street Commissioner, City Surveyor, City As- 
sessor*, and Chief Engineer of the Fire Department; in 
addition to these officers, the city council can from time to 
time provide by ordinance for the appointment of such other 
officers as may be deemed necessary for the proper admin- 
istration of the affairs of the city. Every elective or ap- 
pointive officer must be a qualified voter of the city, and if 
elected or appointed for a ward, must be an elector of that 
ward ; no person can be elected or appointed to any city office 
who has been or is a defaulter to the city or any other muni- 
cipal corporation ; and all officers of the city are required 
to give bonds for the faithful performance of their duties, 
in such amount, and with such sureties, as the law re- 
quires in each particular case. 

The City Attorney is the legal adviser of the council 
and of the officers of the city. He is required to perform 
such legal duties as may be requested by the city council 
or any of its committees. He must keep a proper record 
of all actions in court in which he appears, and in which 
the city is a party, and of all proceedings in such suits. 
The city attorney takes charge of the defense of those ac- 
tions which are brought frequently to recover damages for 
personal injuries occasioned by defective sidewalks, streets 
and public buildings. He prosecutes all offenses against 
city ordinances, and acts as the attorney and solicitor for 
the city in all cases in which it is interested. 

In ma.nf of the larger cities, an officer called the Cor- 
poration Counsel is the head of the municipal law depart- 
ment. 

City Marshal — He is the chief of the police of the city, 



*The duties of this officer are described in connection with the revenue laws of 
the State. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES 211 

and acts under the direction of the mayor. It is his duty 
at all times to protect citizens in the enjoyment of their 
personal and property rights, to preserve peace and order 
throughout the city by arresting disorderly persons and 
suppressing riots and disturbances, and to see that all laws 
of the State and ordinances of the city are properly ob- 
served and enforced. The officer performing these duties 
is frequently entitled the Chief of Police. 

Street Commissioner. — This officer, as his title indicates, 
is concerned with the work of repairing and improving the 
streets, alleys, sidewalks, parks and public grounds. He 
superintends all work of this kind which the council directs 
shall be performed under his supervision, and reports 
monthly to the city council as to the condition of the vari- 
ous matters under his charge. 

City Surveyor. — The powers and duties of this officer 
are similar to those of the county surveyor, and do not 
require an extended description. He makes all necessary 
plats, maps, surveys, plans and specifications, as required 
by the city officers, in connection with the construction and 
maintenance of public works of all kinds. 

Departments and their Officers. — The foregoing are 
the only officers for whose election or appointment specific 
provision is made by the law of the State governing the 
administration of city affairs, but the city council, as 
already stated, has the power to create such other officers 
and places of employment as it may deem necessary and 
expedient for the proper transaction of public business, and 
the general law enumerates several branches of municipal 
government, requiring the services of additional officers. 

Board of Public Works. — In every city incorporated un- 
der the general law of the State, there must be a Board of 



212 STATE GOVERNMENT 

Public Works, composed of five members, who shall be free- 
holders and electors of the city, and who shall serve with- 
out compensation. The members are appointed by the 
mayor, by and with the consent of the council, and in 
order that partisanship may be avoided, the law directs that 
no more than three members shall belong to the same polit- 
ical party. 

The term of office of a member of this Board is five years, 
one member being appointed each year, so that the member- 
ship is continually changing, and at the same time is com- 
posed largely of experienced persons. 

Under the direction of the city council, the Board of 
Public Works is charged and entrusted with the construc- 
tion, management, supervision and control of the muni- 
cipal waterworks, lighting plants, sewerage system, and 
such other public works as the city council may place under 
its charge. 

Whenever the expense of any such public work does not 
exceed two hundred dollars, it may be done by the Board in 
such manner as they may deem proper, but whenever the 
expense exceeds that sum, the plans, specifications and esti- 
mates must be submitted to the city council for its approval. 
In case the expense exceeds the sum of five hundred dol- 
lars, the contract must be awarded to the lowest responsible 
bidder, after due advertisement for proposals. All work 
done under the supervision of this Board must be reported 
to the city council from time to time, and an annual report 
must be made on the third Monday in April of each year, 
embracing an itemized statement of the business of the 
Board. 

Department of Police includes the City Marshal, or 
Chief of Police, who is the head of the department, and 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES 213 

such number of policemen and night-watchmen as may be 
prescribed by the city council. It is the duty of the police 
department to suppress all riots and breaches of the peace, 
to arrest all persons in the act of committing any offense 
against the laws, and at all times diligently and faithfully to 
enforce observance of the laws of the State and the or- 
dinances of the city. 

Department of Health. — It is the duty of this depart- 
ment to exercise a general supervision over the sanitary 
condition of the city, and for that purpose to employ the 
necessary inspectors and officers. It must adopt proper 
measures to arrest the progress of malignant, contagious 
and pestilential diseases, and see that all laws of the State 
and ordinances of the city in relation to sanitary matters 
are enforced. 

The proper discharge of these duties is a matter of the 
greatest importance to the welfare of the people, and con- 
sequently the department is vested with great powers, which 
it can exercise in case of necessity, such as quarantining 
boats and railway trains and compelling the vaccination of 
persons in proper cases. Its officers also have authority to 
enter houses or other buildings and cause them to be 
cleansed, disinfected or closed, if necessary, to prevent the 
spread of contagious diseases. It has charge of the city 
hospital, which is maintained for the proper care of persons 
who may be committed to it. 

Fire Department. — The head of the department is 
the Chief Engineer, and in large cities there are also a 
number of captains, lieutenants, engineers, pipemen, drivers, 
truckmen and telegraph operators. 

The Chief Engineer has absolute control of all of the 
officers and members of the department. It is the duty of 



214 STATE GOVERNMENT 

the Fire Department to take such measures as will protect 
the citizens from loss by fire. To accomplish this, it is 
vested with extraordinary powers, and can cause the re- 
moval of any building whenever it shall become necessary 
to prevent the spread of fire. In some cities, the Fire Mar- 
shal is an important executive officer of the Department. 

Libraries. — A Public Library may be established by the 
city council, pursuant to the provisions of the laws of the 
State. These laws authorize any city, town or village to 
establish a free public library and reading room, and to 
levy a tax to support it. The public library and reading- 
room, when so established, is under the control and man- 
agement of a board of nine directors, who are appointed 
by the mayor and confirmed by the council. These direct- 
ors have sole charge of the management of the library and 
the expenditure of the money raised by taxation for its 
support. They appoint the librarian and assistants, and 
make all rules relating to the government of the library. 



Note. — The large cities of the State have many other officers and departments 
performing duties of great importance to the citizens. For an enumeration of these 
offices and a description of their duties, reference must be had to the charters of the 
respective cities.- 






CHAPTER XXI. 

ELECTION LAWS. 

In any democratic form of government, founded upon 
the principle that the government derives all of its powers 
from the consent of the governed, there are many ques- 
tions which must be submitted to and decided by the votes 
of the people. All the important executive and judicial 
officers of the State and its subdivisions, members of the 
legislature, supervisors and aldermen are elected by the 
people. Many governmental propositions, such as incor- 
poration of villages or cities, the annexation of territory 
to municipalities, the issuing of bonds, and amendments 
to the Constitution of the State must be ratified by a vote 
of the people before they become operative. 

Therefore, the method of conducting elections, the qual- 
ifications of the voters, and the various regulations per- 
taining to the exercise of the right of suffrage or the 
elective franchise are matters of prime importance to the 
citizens of the State. 

The right of voting is one of the most valuable preroga- 
tives of citizenship, and the duty of voting and taking part 
in public affairs should never be neglected by patriotic 
citizens. 

Citizens and Voters. — The mistake must not be made 
of supposing that every citizen has the right to vote. The 
Constitution of Michigan restricts the exercise of the right 

(215) 



216 STATE GOVERNMENT 

of suffrage to those male citizens of the United States, above 
the age of twenty-one years, who have resided in the State 
six months, and in the township or ward in which he offers 
to vote twenty days next preceding the election. In ad- 
dition, every male inhabitant residing in the State on June 
2 4> 1835, every male inhabitant residing in the State on 
January 1, 1850, every male inhabitant of foreign birth 
having resided in the State two and one half years prior 
to November 8, 1894, and having declared his intention 
to become a citizen of the United States two and one half 
years prior to said last named date, and every civilized male 
inhabitant of Indian descent, a native of the United States, 
and not a member of any tribe, shall be an elector and en- 
titled to vote. 

The term " citizen " is very often misunderstood. A 
citizen is a person who is a member of a free state, and 
while it is true that all voters must be citizens, it is not true 
that all citizens are voters. All persons who are born with- 
in the State, regardless of age or sex, are citizens ; persons 
born in other countries may become citizens by complying 
with the laws relating to naturalization.* In the United 
States all persons born or naturalized in the country, and 
subject to the control of its government, are citizens of the 
United States and of the State in which they reside. This 
does not include Indians on reservations, who are treated 
as a foreign people residing within our borders and preserv- 
ing their original tribal form of government. 

The election laws of the State minutely provide for the 
registration of voters, the receiving and recording of the 
votes, and certifying and declaring the results of elections, 
and a general knowledge of the various steps which must 



* See page 64. 



ELECTION LAWS 217 

be taken in holding an election should be possessed by every 
citizen. 

Registration. — It is important that the right of suf- 
frage be exercised by none but qualified voters, and, there- 
fore, the legislature has enacted general laws, requiring a 
registration of electors, in order to guard against the abuse 
of the elective franchise. 

By this law, a board of registration is created in every 
municipality of the State, before which any citizen who 
wishes to vote at an election is obliged to appear and to 
show satisfactorily that he has the qualifications of an elec- 
tor. Having done this, his name is registered, and he then 
becomes entitled to vote. 

It is the duty of this board to provide suitably bound 
books or registers, in which must be made an alphabetical 
list of the names of all persons declared by the Constitu- 
tion to be entitled to vote, residing in the ward or town- 
ship, and the date of the registration. In cities and vil- 
lages, the residence of the elector must be given by the 
number" of the dwelling and the name of the street. 

It is also the duty of the board to question every person 
presenting himself for registration concerning his quali- 
fications as a voter, and the applicant must make truth- 
ful answers in all cases. 

The composition of the board of registration, and the 
method in which it discharges its duties, varies somewhat 
in the different municipalities of the State, rendering it 
difficult to make a general statement in respect thereto, 
which will be applicable to all cases. Therefore, the me- 
thod of registration employed in the different classes of 
municipalities will be described briefly, leaving it for the 
individual student to ascertain and become familiar par- 



218 STATE GOVERNMENT 

ticularly with those parts of the law governing registration 
in the community in which he lives. 

Generally speaking, the aldermen of every incorporated 
city constitute its board of registration, which is required 
to be in session on certain days previous to every election, 
at such places in the several wards as may be designated 
by notices given in the following manner. At least two 
weeks prior to any such session, a notice of the place of 
holding the same must be published in one or more of the 
newspapers of the city, and must be posted in handbill 
form in at least ten conspicuous places in each ward. 

This handbill also contains a true copy of the list of 
names then appearing in the register for the ward. At 
the close of the polls after every election, the names of 
additional electors then appearing on the register are at- 
tached to the list on the handbill, so that such handbill, 
when so corrected, will contain a complete list of the 
registered voters. This list must be filed in the office of the 
county clerk, who must carefully keep and preserve the 
same. 

At the close of their sessions, the members of the board 
who make the registration in each ward sign and date 
the list and deposit the same for safekeeping with the city 
clerk, who delivers it to the inspectors of election for use 
during election, after which it must be returned to the 
city clerk. 

In townships, the board of registration is composed of 
the supervisor, treasurer and clerk of the township. The 
duties of this board are the same as have been described 
in the case of cities, and in case a village is located in the 
township, a separate register is made of the electors re- 
siding in it, which is known as the village election register. 

The registers are required to be made of good paper, 



ELECTION LAWS 219 

and substantially bound, the form of the record in the 
case of each elector being as follows : 



Date 



Name. 



Residence. 



Remarks. 



The law contains ample provisions to prevent fraud- 
ulent registration, and no person is allowed to vote at an 
election whose name does not appear on the register of the 
ward, township or village in which he resides. 

Election Districts and Precincts. — For obvious rea- 
sons, it is not desirable that too many persons vote at 
one place, therefore, townships containing at least three 
hundred electors may be divided into two or more election 
districts, the evident intention of the law being that one 
hundred and fifty electors should be included in each of 
these districts. In a similar way, villages and the several 
wards of cities may be divided into election precincts solely 
for the purpose of convenience in holding elections. Or- 
dinarily speaking, not more than four hundred people can 
vote conveniently at one place during the hours that the 
polls are open, and as the population shifts, a re-arrange- 
ment of the election districts is required. A village or 
ward may be divided into precincts when it contains more 
than six hundred and fifty qualified voters. 

Inspectors of Elections.— These officers have charge 
of the details of conducting the election at each of the poll- 
ing places, and see that the votes are cast in the manner 
provided by law. In townships, the supervisor, two jus- 
tices of the peace, and the township clerk act as inspectors. 
In cities, the aldermen and assessors of each ward act in 
the same capacity. In case these officers are unable to 
perform their duties as such inspectors, provision is made 
for the election of inspectors by the voters at the polls. 



220 STATE GOVERNMENT 

Special provision is also made for the appointment of in- 
spectors in each election district, so that there may be four 
of these officers present at every polling place. 

It is the duty of inspectors of election to cause procla- 
mation to be made of the opening and closing of the polls, 
to preserve order at the election, to deliver an official bal- 
lot to each elector, to attend to the deposit of the bal- 
lot in the box after they have been marked by the voters 
as described hereafter, and in general to compel an observ- 
ance of every detail of the law relating to the casting and 
counting of the votes at each polling place. 

Election Commissioners — Each of the municipalities 
of the State, including counties, townships, villages and 
cities, has a board of election commissioners. In counties, 
this board is composed of the judge of probate, county 
clerk and county treasurer; in townships, the township 
board, which has been described heretofore*, acts as a 
board of election commissioners ; and in cities and villages, 
the members of the board are elected by the common coun- 
cil. 

The principal duty of this board is to attend to the 
preparation of the official ballot for each election. This 
ballot** must contain the names of all candidates to be 
voted for at the election ior which it is prepared, and all 
questions to be submitted to popular vote, and it is the 
duty of the state, district or county committee of each 
political party to certify to the chairman of the board the 
names of all candidates regularly nominated*** by the party 
which the committee represents.**** It is also the duty of 
the state committee of every political party in the State 

* See page 195. 

** For Form of Ballot, see opposite page. 

**** A ~ t0 m f thod of makin g nominations, see page 116. 

tor a description of party organization and political committees, see page 115. 



ELECTION LAWS 



221 



to prepare and adopt, by engraving or otherwise, a vig- 
nette to be printed at the top of the column of the official 
ballot assigned to such party, as a distinctive and char- 
acteristic heading. A copy of this vignette must be sent 
to the election commissioners with the names of the candi- 
dates. 

The names of all candidates are printed on one ballot, 
and the ticket of the party which cast the greatest number 
of votes in the county at the last preceding general election 
is placed first on the ballot. The statute provides for 
every detail needed in the preparation of the ballot and 
their delivery to the inspectors of election for every vot- 
ing district in the State. These details are so numerous 
that it would be tedious and unnecessary to mention them, 
and it is sufficient to state that its arrangement must cor- 
respond, as nearly as may be, to the following plan : 

FORM OF BALLOT. 



















* 






VIGNETTE. 




VIGNETTE. 






VIGNETTE. 




NAME9 
OP OFFICER 
VOTED FOR. 


] 


3EMOCR1TK 

o 




REPUBLICA> 

o 


L 


1 


INDUSTRIAL 

o 




State. 


D Edwin B. Winans. 


D James % Turner. 








Lieutenant Governor 


D Frederick Braastad. 


D Lemuel G. Dafoe. 


P William A, Johnson. 


Secretary of State 


a Daniel E. Soper. 


D Washington Gardner. 


a William H.McKinstrji 


Congressional. 

Representative^ Con- 
gress —fifth Congres- 
sional district 


a Edwin F. Uhl. 


D Charles W. Watkin3. 


D Dudley 0. Watson. 



Note.— The official ballot at a general election contains the names of many other 
offices and the respective candidates for the same. The above is intended only as 
an illustration of the general plan of arrangement followed in making up the ballot. 



222 STATE GOVERNMENT 

Instructions to Voters. — The election commissioners 
are required to print on the ballot certain instructions for 
the guidance of voters in marking their ballots. These 
instructions are set forth in the statute, and cannot be 
varied. They are substantially as follows: 

1. In case the elector wishes to vote a straight party 
ticket, he must place a cross (X) in the circle under the 
name of his party at the head of the ballot. In this case, 
nothing further need be done, and when so marked and 
properly folded, the ticket is then ready to be deposited in 
the ballot box. If the voter wishes to vote for candi- 
dates not on his party ticket, the remaining instructions 
must be observed. 

2. Where only one candidate is to be elected to any 
office, and the voter desires to vote for a candidate not 
on his party ticket, he must make a cross in the square 
before the name of the candidate on the other ticket for 
whom he desires to vote. 

3. When two or more candidates are to be elected to the 
same office, and the voter wishes to vote for candidates 
on different tickets for such office, he must make a cross 
in the square opposite the candidates of his choice on the 
other ticket, and also erase an equal number of names of 
candidates for the same office on his own party ticket.* 

4. If the voter desires to vote for a candidate whose 
name is not on any ticket, he must write or place the name 
of such candidate on his ticket, opposite the name of the 
office. 

5. The voter must then fold his ballot in such a way 
as to display on the outside the initials of the election 



* An instance when this instruction can be followed is in the election of circuit 
court commissioners, as several of these officers are usually chosen at one election. 



ELECTION LAWS 223 

inspector, which have been written on the upper left hand 
corner of the back of the ballot. 

Ballot Boxes. — One or more of these boxes is pro- 
vided at the expense of the township or city, as the case 
may be, for each township, ward or voting precinct. The 
box must be provided with a lock and key, and must have 
an opening through its lid of the proper size to admit a 
single folded ballot. Through this opening each ballot is 
passed into the box. 

Before opening the poll at each election, the ballot box 
must be opened, and its contents, if any, be removed ; it 
must then be locked and the key delivered to one of the 
inspectors. As a general rule, the. box must not be opened 
during any election. 

Polling Places. — In every township and voting pre- 
cinct in the State, a suitable room is selected by the proper 
officers as a place for holding the election. This room 
is designated as the polling place of the township, district 
or precinct, as the case may be, and must not be in any 
saloon, bar room, or place adjoining thereto. A railing 
four feet in height is erected across the room, and is pro- 
vided with gates for the entrance of the voters. No person 
is allowed within except for the purpose of voting or as- 
sisting some elector in the preparation of his ballot. In 
the space enclosed by the railing, one booth is provided for 
each hundred persons entitled to vote at the polling place. 
These booths are occupied by voters in the preparation of 
their ballots, and must be so constructed that the person 
inside is concealed from the observation of all others. 

Voters are admitted in the order in which they apply 
and only as many electors as there are booths are allowed 
within the railing at one and the same time. 



224 STATE GOVERNMENT 

Method of Voting. — Voting in the State of Michigan 
is conducted under what is known as the Australian sys- 
tem.* At the opening of the polls, the packages of official 
ballots furnished by the election commissioners are opened 
by one of the inspectors, and fifty of them are delivered to 
another inspector, who proceeds to write his initials on 
the upper left hand corner of the back of each of them. 
This is done for the proper identification of the ballots. 

As each successive elector presents himself and is found 
to be a qualified voter, he is given one of these ballots, by 
another of the inspectors. He then retires to one of the 
booths within the railing, and prepares and folds his bal- 
lot in accordance with the instructions heretofore stated. 

After this has been done, the voter leaves the booth and 
delivers his ballot to one of the inspectors, who thereupon 
announces audibly the name of the elector offering the 
same. The clerks then note the same and consecutive 
number of the elector on their poll lists, and the inspector 
then, in the presence of the elector, deposits the ballot 
in the box. 

Such, in substance, is the method of voting under the 
Australian system, and in every community where it has 
been introduced its workings and results have been satis- 
factory, so that now it is doubtful if the system will ever 
be changed. Its principal merit lies in the fact that it 
provides for an absolutely secret ballot, thus preventing 
bribery and intimidation of voters. 

Counting the Vote.,— Immediately after the polls are 
closed, the inspectors in the different precincts begin to 
canvass the votes cast, and the canvass cannot be adjourned 

. *J his s y s t. em was first proposed by Hon. Francis S. Dutton, a member of the leg- 
islature of South Australia. It was embodied in the laws of Australia in 1857, and 
its principal features have been adopted in Canada and many of the States of the 
united States. See Peterman's Elements of Civil Government, Chapter XIX, which 
contains an excellent account of the system as used in different States 



ELECTION LAWS 225 

or postponed until it has been completed. The process 
of counting the ballots is provided in detail by statute, and 
the most explicit arrangements have been made to pre- 
vent a false count in the case of any candidate or proposi- 
tion submitted to vote. 

When the canvass has been completed, the total number 
of votes received by each candidate shall be publicly de- 
clared by one of the inspectors. 

Boards of Canvassers. — In each county of the State, 
the board of supervisors is required to choose, every sec- 
ond year, three persons, who, with the county clerk, are 
constituted a board of county canvassers.* This board 
meets at the office of the county clerk shortly after each 
election, and proceeds to canvass the votes cast for county, 
state and federal officers, as shown by the returns filed in 
the office of the county clerk by the various boards of elec- 
tion inspectors. 

It is also their duty to declare the result of the election 
of county officers and members of the legislature, when 
the county alone constitutes one or more senatorial or rep- 
resentative districts, and to publish a full statement of the 
votes cast in at least two newspapers circulating in the 
county. 

Similar duties are performed by a board of district can- 
vassers in each election district for the election of a sen- 
ator and representative in the state legislature, the limits 
of which are greater than those of a county. This board 
is composed of the clerks of the several counties in the 
district, the judge of probate, and the sheriff of the county 
in which the meetings of the board are held. It certifies, 
declares and causes to be published the result of the elec- 

* In Wayne County this board consists of five members, as follows : The Probate 
Judge, County Treasurer, two members of the Board of Auditors, and one citizen 
elector chosen by the Board of Supervisors. 



226 STATE GOVERNMENT 

tion in the district, and the number of votes given to each 

candidate. 

The board of state canvassers is composed of the secre- 
tary of state, the state treasurer and the commissioner of 
the state land office. This board canvasses the votes cast 
for state and federal officers, and on questions submitted 
to popular vote,* as shown by the returns filed by the 
clerks of the various counties in the office of the secretary 
of state, and when this has been done it makes proper cer- 
tificates of the election of such officers, and declares and 
publishes the result of its canvass. 

Elections. — In the State of Michigan, there are three 
elections, to all of which the rules already given are appli- 
cable. A general election is held every two years on the 
first Tuesday following the first Monday in November, 
at which are chosen most of the State officers, representa- 
tives in Congress, and county officers, except the com- 
missioner of schools. In addition, presidential electors are 
chosen every four years at this election. 

The spring election occurs on the first Monday in April 
of each year. Township officers are elected at this time, 
also judges of the circuit and supreme courts, and regents 
of the state uniyersity. 

Local elections for village and city officers are also held 
in the spring, many of them occurring on the second Mon- 
day of March in each year. The time of holding city elec- 
tions depends upon the provisions of the charters of the 
respective cities, and is not the same in all cases. 

Primaries. — In the broadest sense of the term, these 
are elections held by a political party, or by any voluntary 
political association, for the purpose of choosing delegates 
to political conventions, members of various managing 



* For example, a proposed amendment to the Constitution. 



ELECTION LAWS 227 

committees of the party, and some times for the nomination 
of candidates for public office. 

A general law of the State has been enacted, govern- 
ing primary elections in cities of not less than fifteen thou- 
sand and not more than one hundred and fifty thousand 
inhabitants. In municipalities not within the jurisdiction 
of the general law, or of special acts,* primary elections are 
held in accordance with the rules of the party holding them. 
A primary election held in the latter way is sometimes called 
a " caucus." 

We shall consider only primary elections held under the 
provisions of the general law above mentioned, as it would 
be impossible within the space which can be given to the 
subject, to set forth the rules of political parties, relating 
to the subject. 

The time of holding the primaries of any political party 
is fixed by a notice given by the principal committee of 
the party holding the primary, and no more than one party 
is permitted to hold a primary on the same day. 

The polls are open from two to eight o'clock P. M., and 
the election is under the supervision of a board of three 
inspectors, consisting of a chairman, who must be a mem- 
ber of the ward committee of the party holding the primary 
and a resident of the ward in which it is held, and of two 
qualified voters, chosen from the residents of the ward, and 
belonging to the party holding the primary. 

Only registered and qualified voters, who are members 
of the party holding the primary, are allowed to vote. 
The voting is done by ballots, which must be provided by 
the inspectors, and the election may be conducted in the 



* For example, primary elections in Detroit are held in accordance with a special 
act of the legislature. See Local Acts of 1895. 



228 STATE GOVERNMENT 

same manner as those which have been heretofore de- 
scribed. 

It is the duty of every citizen to take part in the primaries 
of the party to which he belongs, particularly when dele- 
gates to nominating conventions are to be chosen, because 
it is the only way by which the individual can have any 
voice in the selection of the candidates for whom he will 
be obliged to vote. Notwithstanding the importance of 
this duty, it is neglected very frequently by citizens, and 
the control of primary elections is left in the hands of 
designing politicians. 

Voting Machines. —Under the statutes of this state, 
the use of voting machines is permitted at elections. These 
machines are ingenious devices, whereby the voter is en- 
abled to register his vote and have it counted without 
using a printed ballot. They have been used in a number 
of the larger cities in this state and elsewhere, and generally 
have given satisfaction. They have many advantages over 
the old system, which are, in brief, the absolute secrecy of 
the ballot, protection against fraud or mistake in counting 
the votes, economy in holding elections and the recording, 
as the election proceeds of the total vote for each candi- 
date or proposition submitted. With the use of these ma- 
chines the result of the election is known as soon as the 
polls are closed. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. 

It may be asserted with pride by the citizens of Michi- 
gan that its local political institutions received their first 
impetus from the common-school system inaugurated in 
the early days of the Territory. As the church furnished 
the center for the growth of the township in New England, 
so the schoolhouse and the organization of the school 
township in Michigan prompted the beginning of local 
governmental institutions. 

The beginning of the school system in Michigan was the 
provision of the Act of Congress, by which one section or 
square mile of land in each township was required to be 
set apart as the basis of a common-school fund, and the 
history of the State shows that from the earliest period of 
its existence down to the present time it has always been 
the special aim and object of its government to provide a 
system of public schools, so that all the children of the 
State may receive a good common-school education. 

In a free commonwealth, where every one shares in the 
responsibilities of the government, the general education 
of the people is a public necessity, since there should be 
an enlightened public opinion to which those charged with 
the performance of public duties can appeal for support. 
For this reason every State in the Union provides for the 
education of its children, that they may become qualified 
to exercise the rights and fulfill the duties of citizenship. 

(229) 



230 STATE GOVERNMENT 

Constitutional Provisions. — Education has always 
been a matter of special solicitude on the part of the framers 
of our government, and for this reason one entire article 
of the constitution of the State is devoted to the subject. 

This article requires that the legislature shall establish 
a system of free primary schools, so that a school may be 
kept in each district for at least three months in each year, 
and that all instruction in these schools shall be conduct- 
ed in the English language. 

The Constitution also provides for the election of a 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is one of the 
executive officers of the State, and for the election of a 
board of regents of the University of Michigan, consisting 
of eight members, and of a State board of education, com- 
posed of three members. The duties of these officers will 
be described hereafter. 

The legislature is directed especially to encourage the 
promotion of intellectual, scientific and agricultural im- 
provement, and for this purpose it is given power to estab- 
lish an agricultural school for instruction in agriculture, 
and the natural sciences connected therewith, and to pro- 
vide for the establishment of a public library in every 
township and city. 

School Laws. — In accordance with these requirements 
of the Constitution, the legislature has enacted school laws 
from time to time, providing in detail for the administra- 
tion of school affairs in every part of the State, and for the 
establishment of a great variety of educational institutions. 
At these institutions, instruction is furnished in every 
branch, ranging from the fundamental studies of the pri- 
mary school to the higher topics pursued in the university 
and scientific schools. 






THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 231 

The University of Michigan. — This is an institution, 
located at Ann Arbor, in which the citizens of the State 
take a just pride. Its management, both from an educa- 
tional and business standpoint, has been so wise and en- 
lightened that it is accorded a high rank among the lead- 
ing e'ducational institutions of the country. 

Its affairs are under the control of a board of regents, 
which is a body politic and corporate, under the name and 
title of "The Regents of the State University. ,, This board 
is composed of eight members, whose term of office is eight 
years. Two regents are elected by the people at every 
general election at which a justice of the supreme court 
is chosen. 

All matters connected with the management of the uni- 
versity are under its control, and it has power to appoint 
all necessary instructors and other officers, and to enact 
ordinances, rules and regulations for the government of 
the university. 

Other State Institutions. — In order that the public 
schools of the State may be supplied with competent teach- 
ers, Normal Schools have been established at Ypsilanti, 
Mount Pleasant and Marquette for the preparation and 
training of teachers. These schools are under the charge 
of the State Board of Education, upon which the legisla- 
ture has conferred all powers necessary for the proper man- 
agement of these schools. The Board is composed of three 
members, one of whom is elected every second year, the 
term of office being three years. 

The State Agricultural College, at Lansing, as required 
by the Constitution, is designed to afford instruction in 
agriculture and the natural sciences connected therewith. 
Students are admitted to this institution who are at least 
fifteen years of age, upon passing a satisfactory examina- 



232 STATE GOVERNMENT 

tion in the common branches of study, and can pursue a 
course of study furnishing a thorough scientific training. 

The school is under the charge of the State Board of 
Agriculture, which is composed of six members beside the 
governor and the president of the college. These members 
are appointed by the governor, with the consent of the 
senate. 

The Michigan College of Mines is also a State educa- 
tional institution. It is located at Houghton, and is under 
the control of a board of six members, appointed by the gov- 
ernor. The course of instruction at this school is designed 
to enable its students to obtain a full knowledge of the sci- 
ence, art and practice of mining, and the use of mining 
machinery. 

Among the charitable institutions of Michigan, the State 
Public School at Coldwater should be mentioned in this 
connection, as it affords a temporary home for dependent, 
neglected children, and furnishes them with instruction in 
the elementary branches. In addition the schools for the 
deaf and blind and the industrial schools for boys and girls 
are important institutions. 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction. — This 
officer is elected every two years by the people of the en- 
tire State, and is the head of the educational system. He 
is the supervisor of all the public schools of the State, and 
must be informed fully by reading, observation and con- 
sultation with educational authorities as to the best me- 
thods of conducting common schools. He is required to 
visit all the State educational institutions, and their offi- 
cers are required to report to him. These reports are em- 
bodied with other statements relating to educational mat- 
ters in an annual report which the Superintendent makes 






THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 233 

to the governor, and which is transmitted by that officer to 
the legislature at each session. 

He is the adviser, as well as the superior officer, of county 
commissioners of schools, and of all other school officers, 
and is expected from time to time to give them such in- 
formation as he shall deem to be for the best interests of 
the educational system. His powers enable him to insist 
that the school laws of the State shall be observed faith- 
fully by all school officers. 

County Commissioner and School Examiner. — These 
officers are chosen by the Board of Supervisors of the 
county, and hold office for two years. Each county has 
one commissioner and two examiners, who are required to 
be persons having at least twelve months' experience in 
teaching, and to be graduates of some reputable institution 
of learning having a course of instruction covering at least 
three years. These three officers constitute a board of ex- 
aminers of the county, and are required to hold at least two 
examinations each year, for the purpose of testing the 
qualifications of all persons offering themselves as teachers 
in the public schools of the county. Certificates are issued 
by this board to those who are found to be qualified to act 
as teachers. 

In addition to his duties as a member of the board of 
examiners, the county commissioner acts as a general super- 
intendent of the schools of the county, subject to the in- 
struction of the State Superintendent, to whom he is re- 
quired to report. 

His principal duties consist in visiting the schools of 
the county, noting the methods of instruction, the branches 
taught and the text-books used, and giving to teachers 
and school officers such instructions and directions in the 
science, art and method of teaching and course of study as 



234 STATE GOVERNMENT 

he may deem expedient and necessary. He acts as the 
official adviser of school officers and teachers of his county, 
and must faithfully carry out all instructions given by the 
State superintendent. He is required to elevate the stand- 
ard of the teachers and to improve the condition of the 
common schools of his county in every practicable way. 

Township School Officers. — Inspectors. — As hereto- 
fore stated, one or more school inspectors are elected in 
each year. These officers, together with the township 
clerk, constitute the township board of school inspectors, 
which has a general supervision over the school affairs of 
all the districts composing the township. The board is 
required to make an annual report, showing the number of 
districts in the township, the amount of money raised for 
libraries, the manner in which the different districts have 
complied with the law, and such other information as may 
be required by the State Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion. 

Clerk. — The township clerk is by virtue of his office 
the clerk of the board of school inspectors. He keeps the 
records of the board, prepares their reports, and has the 
custody of all their documents. Among other duties, he 
is required to prepare a map, showing how the township 
is divided into school districts, to certify to the supervisor 
the amount required to be raised by taxation for school 
purposes in each district, and to apportion among the dis- 
tricts all money raised by township tax or received from 
other sources for the support of schools. 

The Supervisor and Treasurer. — The supervisor has 
charge of the assessment of school taxes throughout the 
township, and the treasurer attends to the collection of 
the same. The method in which this is done will be de- 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 235 

scribed generally in the next chapter, and as these officers 
have no duties connected with the educational part of the 
school system, they need not be considered further at this 
time. 

School Districts. — The township is divided into school 
districts by the board of school inspectors, which has full 
power to regulate and alter the boundaries of districts as 
circumstances may require. Whenever a district is formed, 
the board of school inspectors must give notice of the 
fact to the qualified voters of the proposed district, and fix 
a time and place for holding a meeting to organize the dis- 
trict. 

At this meeting, the voters choose the school officers of 
the district, consisting of a moderator, a director and an 
assessor, whose duties will be described hereafter, and 
transact all other necessary business. 

District Meetings. — The annual meeting of the dis- 
trict is held on the first Monday of September, in each 
year, but the law permits a district to hold this meeting on 
the second Monday in July, if so determined at any annual 
or special meeting. 

At this meeting all property-owners in the district, twen- 
ty one years of age, who have lived in the district for 
three months preceding the meeting, are qualified to vote 
upon all questions, and all parents or legal guardians of 
children in the district, qualified by age and residence as 
just stated, are entitled to vote on questions which do not 
directly involve the raising of money by taxation. 

The presiding officer of this meeting is the moderator, 
and the director is the secretary. In case of the absence 
of these officers, others are chosen in their place. 

Among the powers which may be exercised at this meet- 
ing, the following may be mentioned, namely, the election 



236 STATE GOVERNMENT 

of district officers, the selection of sites for school houses, 
the purchasing or leasing of school house sites and build- 
ings, and the determination of the amount required to be 
raised by taxation for these purposes. This amount is 
limited by the number of children in the district, and ranges 
from two hundred and fifty dollars in districts having less 
than ten children, to one thousand dollars in districts hav- 
ing between thirty and fifty children, between the ages 
of five and twenty years. An additional tax may also be im- 
posed for keeping school buildings in repair, providing 
necessary apparatus for schools, paying lawfully incurred 
liabilities and debts of the district, and the services of the 
district officers. 

District Officers. — Moderator. — This officer presides at 
all meetings of the district, and of the district board, at 
which he is present, and is required by law to countersign 
all orders drawn for the disbursement of money raised by 
taxation for the support of the schools in the district. He 
has a general supervision over school moneys of the dis- 
trict, and in case the assessor fails to perform the duties 
imposed upon him by law, it becomes the duty of the 
moderator to cause an action to be prosecuted upon the as- 
sessor's bond. 

Director. — He is the clerk of the district, and performs 
all of the duties usually imposed upon the clerk of any 
administrative body, such as keeping a record of the pro- 
ceedings of all meetings, giving notices of such meetings, 
and drawing and signing warrants upon the township and 
district treasurer for the disbursement of the school money 
of the district. He is also an executive officer of the dis- 
trict, and provides the schools with the necessary charts, 
maps and other apparatus, keeping a careful account of 
all expenses incurred by him in his official capacity. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 237 

At the annual meeting of the district, he is required to 
present an estimate of the expenses for the ensuing year, 
being the amount which must be raised by taxation for dis- 
trict purposes. He also takes the school census, unless 
some other person is appointed by the district board to 
perform that duty. 

Assessor. — The title " assessor " as applied to this of- 
ficer, is misleading, for he is in reality the treasurer of 
the district, and must receive and disburse all moneys 
available for the support of schools in the district. He 
is required to keep a suitable account of all of his official 
transactions, to make a report and statement of the same 
at the end of each school year, and to furnish a satisfactory 
bond for the faithful performance of all of his duties. 

District Board. — This board is composed of the director, 
assessor and moderator, and, generally speaking, it has 
entire charge of the administration of the school affairs 
of the district during the intervals between the annual or 
special meetings of the district. 

It has numerous powers and duties, including the power 
to purchase or lease, in the name of the district, suitable 
grounds and buildings for school houses, to estimate and 
report annually to the township clerk the amount of money 
required to be raised by taxation for the support of the 
schools of the district, to disburse the school moneys of the 
district, to hire teachers, to prescribe the course of study to 
be pursued and the text-books to be used, and to make the 
necessary rules and regulations for the government of the 
schools and for the care and custody of school property. 

Teachers. — No teacher can be employed in a common 
school of this State who is not of good moral character 
and at least eighteen years of age if a male and seventeen 



238 STATE GOVERNMENT 

years of age if a iemale, and who does not possess a certifi- 
cate of qualification. 

Teachers' certificates may be granted by the State super- 
intendent of public instruction or by the county examiners 
of the different counties, after suitable examinations have 
been held by them. 

No teacher can lawfully receive any salary for services 
unless possessed of the required certificate of qualifica- 
tion. The duties of teachers are too well known to re- 
quire any further description. 

Women as School Officers. — One other provision of the 
school law should be noted, because it constitutes an ex- 
ception to the general policy of the State with reference 
to public matters. Under the laws of this State women are 
allowed to vote at all district school elections, and are 
eligible to hold district offices under the school law of the 
State. The propriety of this provision cannot be ques- 
tioned, because women are employed very largely in educa- 
tional work as teachers and superintendents, and by nature 
and training they are fully qualified to deal with educa- 
tional problems. 

Boards of Education.. — In the large cities of the State, 
the school affairs are administered by a Board of Educa- 
tion, created by act of the legislature. This Board, gen- 
erally speaking, performs all the functions of district and 
township school officers and has entire control of the man- 
agement of the school system. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

TAXATION AND EMINENT DOMAIN. 

Among the numerous questions which arise in adminis- 
tering the affairs of any government, whether it be that of 
a nation, state, city, village or school district, none are 
more important or more closely affect the happiness and 
welfare of the people than those which pertain to revenue 
and taxation. The history of nations is composed largely 
of the record of attempts to dispose of these questions. 
Sometimes the issue has been settled peaceably by discus- 
sion and mutual agreement, but frequently it has been de- 
termined by bloodshed and revolution. The latter was the 
case in our Revolutionary War, which originated in a dif- 
ference of opinion between England and the colonies as 
to which should determine the nature and amount of the 
taxes to be paid by the people of this country. 

At the present time questions of taxation and the ex- 
penditure of public money are involved in nearly every 
election. For these reasons, the subject of taxation is of 
fundamental importance to every citizen who would dis- 
charge the duties of citizenship in an intelligent and patri- 
otic manner. 

Taxes Defined. — Taxes are sums of money which the 
government requires its citizens to pay for its support. 
These payments are not voluntary, but are obligatory, and 
if the citizen neglects them the government collects the debt 
by selling a sufficient amount of his property to pay his 

(239) 



240 STATE GOVERNMENT 

tax. Therefore, taxes may be defined further as that part 
of the property of individuals which the government takes 
to defray its expenses incurred for the common good of 
all. Revenue is the income of the government derived from 
taxation. 

Taxation is necessary, because governments cannot fulfill 
the purposes for which they exist without the expenditure 
of large sums of money, which must be contributed by the 
citizens in proportion to their wealth. The revenue of the 
national government is raised principally by indirect taxa- 
tion. Revenues of the State, county and municipal gov- 
ernments are raised by a system of direct taxation — that 
is, by levying taxes upon the value of the actual property, 
such as land, money, stocks or bonds, which each individ- 
ual possesses. 

Constitutional Provisions. — The constitution of the 
State determines some of the fundamental principles which 
must be observed in taxing citizens of Michigan and all 
municipalities in the State must be governed by its pro- 
visions in raising their revenue. 

Taxes must be levied so that every person will be obliged 
to pay in proportion to the value of his property. 

Certain corporations, such as banking, railroad, plank 
road, and others, may be required to pay a specific tax, but 
in all other cases taxation must be uniform. 

To protect citizens from excessive taxation on account 
of State liabilities, the Constitution forbids the creation of 
a State debt of more than fifty thousand dollars, and pro- 
vides that the credit of the State shall not be used in aid 
of any person or corporation, and that the State shall not 
subscribe to, or be interested in, the stock of any corporate 
body. 

Subject to the general limitations contained in the Con- 






TAXATION AND EMINENT DOMAIN 241 

stitution, the power of enacting the necessary revenue laws 
is committed to the legislature. 

Exemptions. — Certain kinds of property are exempted 
from taxation for various reasons which are obvious in 
each case. No taxes are levied upon property belonging 
to the United States, such as custom houses and post of- 
fices, or upon the property of the State, or of any county, 
township, city, village or school district. 

The same applies to real estate owned by library, benev- 
olent, charitable, educational and scientific institutions, to 
churches and parsonages, and to burial grounds and the 
monuments contained in them. The property of agricul- 
tural societies, parks, monument grounds and armories are 
also exempt from taxation. The personal property of be- 
nevolent, charitable, educational and scientific institutions 
is also exempt from taxation and the same is true of a 
soldiers' pension, the tools of a mechanic and certain arti- 
cles of household furniture, provisions and fuel. 

The Objects for which Taxes are Levied. — Taxes 
are levied for the support of the State government, includ- 
ing the salaries and expenses of State officers, the main- 
tenance of public buildings and offices in which the business 
of the State is transacted, the expenses of charitable and 
educational institutions, the equipment of the militia, and 
many other objects involving the expenditure of money. 

At each session of the legislature certain laws are passed 
called appropriation bills, which fix the amount which must 
be raised by taxation to defray the expenses of the State 
government. 

This amount is apportioned by the Auditor-General 
among the several counties, according to the value of their 
taxable property. 

In a similar manner, the estimated expenses of the 



242 STATE GOVERNMENT 

county are determined by the board of supervisors and 
apportioned among the various townships. The county 
government levies taxes to pay the salaries of judges and 
county officers, and to defray the expenses of the county 
institutions, including courts, jails, almshouses, hospitals 
and asylums of various kinds. 

The objects for which the government of a large city 
levies taxes are numerous, and the amount of money re- 
quired to be raised by taxation is very large. This sum is 
expended for the support and maintenance of schools, the 
police and fire departments, public works of various kinds, 
salaries of officers, lighting the streets, and the expenses of 
the different public institutions controlled by the city. As 
a general rule, each year the heads of the various depart- 
ments make an estimate of the amount required for the 
ensuing year to defray the expenses of their respective de- 
partments. These estimates are sent to the common coun- 
cil for revision, alteration and approval, and in some cases 
as in Detroit, they are again reviewed by a board of esti- 
mates by which the amounts may be reduced. 

In a similar manner, the officers of townships, villages 
and school districts determine the amount of money re- 
quired annually for their corporate purposes. 

The Assessment of Taxes. — After the amount to be 
raised by taxation for State, county, municipal, school and 
other public purposes has been determined, then the pro- 
portion of this amount to be paid by each individual must 
be ascertained. This is called the assessment of taxes. 

The just assessment of taxes is a delicate and difficult 
task, and the law carefully prescribes the methods to be 
pursued. It is necessary first to obtain an accurate list of 
all the property in the county which is liable to taxation. 
Property is of two kinds — namely, real property, consist- 






TAXATION AND EMINENT DOMAIN 243 

ing of lands and houses, and personal property, which in- 
cludes everything movable, such as money, stocks, bonds, 
furniture, horses, cattle, jewelry and merchandise. 

Every person owning taxable property of any kind is re- 
quired to make a sworn statement, showing in detail the 
different items of personal and real property that he pos- 
sesses. These statements are delivered to the supervisor 
or assessor, as the case may be, and filed for future refer- 
ence in connection with the work of reviewing and finally 
determining the amount of tax to be paid by each individ- 
ual, firm and corporation. 

The Assessment Roll. — On or before the third Mon- 
day of May in each year, the supervisor in towns, or the 
assessor in cities, must make a list of all persons in the 
township or assessment district, who are liable to be taxed, 
together with a full description of all taxable property 
located therein. This document is called the assessment 
roll. Opposite the description of each piece of real estate, 
the name of the owner is placed, together with the super- 
visor's estimate of the true cash value of the land. 

The supervisor or assessor must also make an estimate of 
the true cash value of all the personal property of each 
person, and set the same down on the assessment roll, op- 
posite the name of such person. 

Board of Review. — The functions of this board are to 
revise and correct the assessment roll as prepared by the 
supervisor, so that it may conform in all respects to the 
requirements of the law. The board is composed of the 
supervisor and two electors of the township, chosen at the 
annual township meeting. 

The board of review of each township holds two meet- 
ings in the month of May in each year. At the first of these 
meetings, it examines the assessment roll and makes such 



244 STATE GOVERNMENT 

changes as appear to be necessary, by adding the names 
of persons or the description of property omitted by the 
supervisor, and by correcting all errors that may be dis- 
covered. The board also fixes a value upon the various 
items of real and personal property, and enters the valuation 
so determined in a separate column of the assessment roll. 

At the second meeting, the board is required to hear the 
complaints of all persons who consider themselves unjustly 
treated in respect to the valuation of their property. These 
complaints must be carefully investigated and the assess- 
ment roll corrected so that no injustice is done to indi- 
viduals. In cities, similar provisions exist for reviewing 
the assessment roll by such officers as may be designated 
by the city charter. For example, in Detroit the common 
council acts as a board of review. 

Computing the Tax.. — After the amount required to be 
raised by taxation for state, county and municipal pur- 
poses has been determined in each township and assessment 
district, it then becomes necessary to apportion the same 
among the different persons owning taxable property. 

This is done by the supervisor in townships and by the 
assessing officer in cities and villages, and the amount to 
be paid by each person is entered upon the assessment 
roll.* 

When the assessment roll has thus been completed, the 
supervisor delivers a copy of it to the treasurer of the 
township, or to the collector of the city or village, together 
with an order, directing the collecting officer to proceed to 
collect the taxes as therein set forth. The copy of the roll 
and the warrant for collection is delivered in the month of 
November. 






* Nearly all school arithmetics contain an explanation of the method of comput- 
ing taxes. 



TAXATION AND EMINENT DOMAIN 245 

Collection of Taxes. — Each collector, upon receiving 
the tax roll, proceeds to collect the taxes therein listed. 
Taxpayers are allowed until the tenth of January in which 
to make voluntary payment of their taxes. After that date, 
active measures are taken to collect the taxes, and for that 
purpose the collecting officer must call upon each person 
residing in his township or district, and demand payment of 
the taxes charged against him. In case the taxpayer is a 
non-resident, this demand is made by mail. 

In case of non-payment, it is then the duty of the collect- 
or to levy upon and sell the property of the delinquent tax- 
payer, and thus collect the debt due to the public. 

Delinquent Taxes. — If the collecting officer is unable 
to collect any of the taxes assessed on real property, he 
makes a statement of the same and delivers it to the county 
treasurer. All such statements so delivered to the county 
treasurer are certified by him to the auditor-general on or 
before the first day of May next ensuing. The unpaid 
taxes included in these statements are termed delinquent. 

It then becomes the duty of the auditor-general to insti- 
tute proceedings in the circuit court of the county for the 
sale of the land against which the delinquent taxes are 
charged. These proceedings result in a decree of the court, 
directing that the land be sold and the proceeds applied to 
the payment of the delinquent tax. This sale is conducted 
by the county treasurer, and is commenced on the first 
Tuesday of May in each year. 

After the real estate has been sold for non-payment of 
taxes, the county treasurer executes and delivers to the 
purchaser a certificate of purchase, which describes the 
property sold and states the date of the sale, the amount of 
unpaid taxes on the property, and other details. The owner 
of the property sold is allowed one year in which to re- 



246 STATE GOVERNMENT 

deem from the sale, by paying to the county treasurer the 
amount of the taxes for which the land was sold, together 
with interest, expenses of the sale, and the penalties im- 
posed by law in such cases. If the owner does not redeem 
within one year, then the holder of the certificate of pur- 
chase is entitled to receive from the auditor-general a tax 
deed, which conveys to" him an absolute title to the prop- 
erty sold. 

Eminent Domain. — There is another method by which 
the government sometimes takes possession of the property 
of individuals and uses the same for public purposes. This 
is done by the exercise of the right of eminent domain, by 
which is meant the right of the government to take posses- 
sion of and use property for the benefit of the public, which 
is greater than the right of the individual citizen to hold 
the property for his own private use. This power of the 
government is exercised so frequently that a general knowl- 
edge of the subject should be possessed by every citizen, 
and, therefore, a very common instance will be taken as an 
illustration. 

Taking Property. — It is the duty of the government of a 
city or village to lay out and open such streets and alleys 
as may be required for the convenience of the public. The 
contemplated street must necessarily cross the land of one 
or more citizens, and sometimes the property owner is com- 
pelled to move his buildings from the ground to be so occu- 
pied. This is a damage to the owner of the property, be- 
cause his land is taken from him and used as a street and 
perhaps he has been obliged to tear down or remove ex- 
pensive structures. Therefore, the law compels the gov- 
ernment in such a case to pay to the property owner the 
amount of the damage incurred. 

Compensation. — The rights of citizens in all cases of this 



TAXATION AND EMINENT DOMAIN 247 

kind are secured by the constitution, which provides that 
private property shall not be taken or damaged for public 
use without just compensation. Further, the laws of the 
State indicate the method to be followed in ascertaining 
the amount of damage to be paid to citizens in such cases. 
The city is obliged to file a petition in the proper court, set- 
ting forth a description of the property which it is pro- 
posed to take, the purpose for which it is to be taken, the 
name or names of the owners, and asking that the compen- 
sation to be paid to the owner may be determined by the 
court. 

This question is submitted to a jury of twelve freehold- 
ers, or to three commissioners, either method being per- 
mitted by law. The amount awarded by the jury must be 
paid by the government to the owner of the property before 
it can use the land for the purpose proposed. 

Taxation and Eminent Domain Contrasted. — Thus the 
exercise of the right of eminent domain is similar to the ex- 
ercise of the power of taxation, in that private property is 
taken for public purposes in both cases, and in both cases 
compensation is given to the owner. But there are marked 
differences to be observed with reference to these subjects. 
The right of eminent domain is exercised not only by the 
different kinds of government under which we live, but 
also by certain public corporations, such as railroads, and 
telegraph and bridge companies, while the power of taxa- 
tion is exercised by the government alone. Again, the 
right of eminent domain is exercised only at certain times 
and in certain cases, while taxation is enforced at all times 
and affects all property owners. 

There is also a difference in the kind of compensation 
that the citizen receives. When his property is taken under 
the right of eminent domain he is paid for it in money, but 



248 STATE GOVERNMENT 

when it is taken by taxation the citizen gets his pay by- 
receiving police and fire protection, the advantages of pub- 
lic schools and all other benefits that he derives from the 
government under which he lives. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS. 

The consideration given in the preceding chapters to the 
political institutions of our country and State will fail in 
its purpose if it does not impress us with the magnitude 
and number of the rights, privileges and immunities en- 
joyed by American citizens, as well as the serious character 
of the obligations imposed upon them. 

In concluding our study, we shall summarize briefly the 
more important of these rights and duties. An exhaustive 
statement of these topics involves a detailed study of our 
statute books, because every provision of the national and 
State constitutions, as well as every law that has been en- 
acted, is designed to protect citizens in the enjoyment of 
some right, and the possession of a right always implies 
the existence of a duty on the part of its possessor. 

The rights of a citizen of the United States may be di- 
vided into two classes — namely, those civil rights which 
are enjoyed by all citizens alike, regardless of age or sex, 
and those political rights which are possessed by citizens 
having certain qualifications. 

It was the special aim and object of the founders of our 
government to protect the civil rights of citizens. To this 
end we find it enunciated in the Declaration of Independ- 
ence that among the inalienable rights of men are those of 
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that govern- 
ments are instituted to secure these rights. The study of 

(249) 



250 STATE GOVERNMENT 

our national Constitution also shows that its framers zeal- 
ously guarded and protected these rights. This is appar- 
ent when we recall that, after the instrument had been 
completed and signed by the members of the constitutional 
convention, there was still a lingering fear that the docu- 
ment had not been sufficiently explicit in these particulars, 
and that to remove all possible doubt the first ten amend- 
ments were adopted at the earliest opportunity. To still 
further protect citizens in the enjoyment of their civil and 
political rights the last three amendments were enacted. 

In a similar manner, the constitution of Michigan shows 
with what solicitude and care these rights have been 
guarded by that instrument. 

Rights of Citizens. — Personal Security. — Every citizen 
has the right of personal security — that is, to be protected 
from personal injury, either to his body, health or reputa- 
tion. To this end, a large portion of our laws have been 
framed, and in their enforcement many public officers are 
employed. For the protection of citizens from actual bodily 
harm and violence, sheriffs and policemen perform their 
duties, and, in case their assistance cannot be had, the citizen 
is given the right to defend himself. The public health is 
guarded by numerous laws and ordinances on sanitary sub T 
jects, and great care is taken to prevent the spread of 
contagious diseases. Lastly, the laws for the punishment 
of slander and libel protect the reputations of citizens. 

Property. — This is one of those absolute civil rights of 
which the citizen cannot be deprived. It means that every 
one has the right to acquire, own and use property, and 
that, if necessary, the entire power of the government will 
be exerted to prevent an individual from being deprived 
unlawfully of his property. No man's property can be 
taken from him by another except by due process of law, 



RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS 251 

and if a citizen faithfully fulfills his obligations, legal proc- 
esses will not be invoked against him. 

Personal Liberty. — The existence of this right is recog- 
nized by numerous paragraphs of the constitution. By 
virtue of it a citizen is free to travel and live where he 
pleases and to engage in such lawful occupation as he 
deems best. In ancient times a ruler could deprive a 
citizen of his personal liberty at will, and therefore our Eng- 
lish ancestors devised a remedy for this evil, known as the 
writ of habeas corpus. It has been in use in England from 
a period of remote antiquity, for personal liberty has al- 
ways been asserted by the English law from its earliest ages. 
The principle was declared in the most solemn manner 
in Magna Charta, but the benefits of the writ were fre- 
quently avoided by time-serving judges until the year 1679, 
when the habeas corpus act was passed by the English Par- 
liament. 

The habeas corpus act has been substantially incorpo- 
rated into the laws of every State in the Union, and the 
right to the writ has been secured by the constitutions of 
the United States and of the State of Michigan, both of 
which provide that the privilege shall not be suspended, ex- 
cept when the public safety requires it. 

The writ of habeas corpus is a document issued by order 
of court upon the application of any person who is unlaw- 
fully deprived of his liberty. It commands the person hav- 
ing in his custody the applicant for the writ to bring him 
before the court to be dealt with according to the law. If 
the judge finds that the applicant for the writ has been un- 
lawfully deprived of his liberty he discharges him from 
custody at once. If, on the other hand, it is found that the 
confinement is lawful, the prisoner is remanded to the cus- 



252 STATE GOVERNMENT 

tody of the person producing him, to await the further ac- 
tion of the law. 

It is impossible to evade the provisions of the habeas 
corpus act, and personal liberty will be safe in Michigan as 
long as this law remains in force. 

Freedom of Conscience. — The right to perfect freedom in 
all matters of religious worship and profession is one of 
the fundamental principles of our government. To secure 
this freedom, our ancestors left their homes in Europe and 
settled in a wilderness. The constitution of Michigan de- 
clares that this right shall forever be guaranteed and pro- 
tected, and that no person shall ever be denied any civil or 
political right by reason of his religious belief. 

So firmly has this principle become established in our 
institutions and so fully do we recognze its existence that 
we scarcely realize how many years of struggle, what sacri- 
fice of life and expenditure of money its establishment has 
cost. The history of almost every nation shows that the 
denial of this right has been the source of a large part of 
the cruelty and warfare from which mankind has suffered. 

Freedom of Speech and of the Press. — Every person is 
at liberty to freely speak and write and publish his views 
upon all subjects, but is responsible to any one injured by 
the abuse of that liberty. Absolute freedom of speech and 
discussion, especially with reference to public matters, is 
essential to the welfare and perpetuity of the principles of 
popular government, because by the free interchange of 
opinion among people sound views are developed and will 
generally prevail. In the exercise of this right care must 
be taken that the reputation or business of a citizen is not 
injured by the circulation of false statements. The mali- 
cious utterance of such statements is called slander, and 



RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS 253 

the publication of them is libel, both of which are punished 
by severe penalties. 

Protection from Unjust Laws. — Tyrannical governments 
in all ages have resorted to the expedient of enacting op- 
pressive laws, so that their unjust acts might be defended 
by the plea that the laws must be enforced. At other times 
the operation of just and reasonable laws has been sus- 
pended at the will of the sovereign, regardless of the rights 
of the people. Acts such as these were charged against 
the King of Great Britain by the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. To insure the people against abuses of this 
kind the constitution provides : That no ex post facto law, 
or law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall be en- 
acted ; that all penalties shall be . proportioned to the 
nature of the offense, and no conviction shall work cor- 
ruption of blood or forfeiture of estate. 

The first of these provisions protects the people from 
any legislative act having a retroactive effect. An ex post 
facto law is one which establishes or increases the penalty 
of an act already committed. For example, forgery is a 
crime punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary, but if 
the legislature should enact a law condemning to death all 
persons who have been convicted of forgery during the last 
two years, such a law would be ex post facto and therefore 
unconstitutional and void. 

Any law which destroys or impairs the validity of a con- 
tract is also contrary to the constitution and void, because 
when citizens, relying upon existing laws, enter into an 
agreement, they acquire rights in the subject matter of 
the agreement. In such a case it would be manifestly 
unjust for the legislature to damage or destroy those rights 
by passing a law which would impair in any way the obli- 
gations created by the contract. 



254 STATE GOVERNMENT 

The second of these constitutional provisions protects 
citizens from suffering excessive penalties for compara- 
tively small crimes or misdemeanors. In some despotic 
governments the penalty of death is imposed for quite a 
variety of offenses, but under our more humane laws it is 
inflicted only in the case of a conviction for murder. 

The same provision of our State constitution forbids a 
kind of punishment which in former times was inflicted fre- 
quently, particularly in cases of treason, whereby the per- 
son convicted not only suffered the severest penalty, but 
also forfeited all his property to the government, and his 
blood was declared corrupted, so that he became incapable 
of receiving or transmitting any inheritance. Such a pun- 
ishment was inflicted by legislative or judicial act, called a 
Bill of Attainder, or simply an Attainder. It had the effect 
of punishing children and innocent persons for the crimes 
of their ancestors. Attainders have been abolished in Eng- 
land and are forbidden by the Constitutions of the United 
States and of the State of Michigan. 

The examples which have been given illustrate what is 
meant by the civil rights of a citizen. His political rights 
are just as highly prized and important, but not nearly so 
numerous. 

Suffrage. — This is the most important political right pos- 
sessed by citizens. The origin of the word suffrage is 
somewhat in doubt, but its meaning is familiar to every 
person. The right of suffrage is the right to vote — that 
is, to give expression to a choice as to what person shall fill 
a particular office or as to whether or not a given govern- 
mental proposition shall become operative. The right of 
suffrage is important, because by means of it each person 
who is entitled to its exercise has a voice in the determina- 
tion of public questions. 



RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS 255 

The Right to Hold Office. — It is the right of every Amer- 
ican citizen to hold office, provided he has the requisite 
qualifications established by law. It is also his privilege to 
aspire to any office which he is qualified to fill. In the pre- 
ceding pages many offices have been mentioned, and there 
are many others which have been omitted. The occupants 
of each of these, from the highest to the lowest, have been 
chosen from the mass of the people. 

The ambition to hold public office is an honorable one, 
but in its attainment none but honorable methods should 
be used. It is a great honor to be chosen to fill an office 
of public trust, and every recipient of such favor should 
strive to merit it by avoiding selfishness and corruption in 
the performance of his duties. 

The Duties of Citizens. — The duties which all citizens 
owe to their government should receive their consideration 
quite as much as the rights which they enjoy, but, unfortu- 
nately, this is not always the case. All citizens of this coun- 
try are fairly zealous in claiming their rights, but when it 
comes to the performance of their duties they often display 
an ignorance or negligence which does not speak well for 
their intelligence or patriotism. These duties are almost as 
numerous as the rights which have been described, and are 
also of a civil and political character. 

Obedience to the Law. — This topic covers a multitude of 
matters which might be considered with profit, but we can 
discuss it only in a general way. It includes all of the duties 
of citizens. Every person who expects to be protected by 
the law in the enjoyment of his rights must conform to the 
conditions which the laws have imposed. If he fails in this 
respect he is likely to lose some of his rights and to suffer 
a penalty proportionate to his failure. Laws should be 



256 STATE GOVERNMENT 

obeyed by citizens from a sense of duty, and not from fear 
of punishment. 

Any person who obeys the law because he fears the pen- 
alty of disobedience is likely to disobey it if he thinks he can 
escape discovery and punishment. A citizen who is willing 
to obey the law only in cases where he fears discovery and 
who is ready to disobey it secretly when he thinks his per- 
sonal interests will be promoted thereby, is quite as dan- 
gerous to the welfare of the community as the professional 
lawbreaker and marauder. Yet many a so called respecta- 
ble citizen does this very thing when he is a party to cor- 
ruption in official conduct or bribery at elections. 

The Payment of Taxes. — Although it is perfectly clear 
to every citizen that the expenses of government must be 
paid by taxation and that all should contribute for this pur- 
pose in proportion to their wealth, yet some men will seek 
to avoid this duty. In doing so, they resort to many dis- 
honorable practices. They make untrue statements to the 
assessors as to the amount of their property, especially if 
their wealth is in such a form that it can be concealed. To 
ease their consciences in making these statements they tem- 
porarily transfer their property, just before the first day of 
April and recover it shortly after that date. They tell the 
assessors that their property is worth much less than its real 
value. This is especially the case with reference to personal 
property, the value of which can be misrepresented with 
much more safety than in the case of real estate. 

People who seek to escape the burden of taxation by 
methods such as these are generally known as "tax-dodg- 
ers." They defraud the government of its just dues and 
are not good citizens. Any person who is willing to 
receive the benefits of the government and seeks to avoid 
paying for what he gets is actuated by principles no better 



RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS 257 

than those of the professional solicitor of alms or the man 
who habitually repudiates his honest debts. 

Self-Support. — Every citizen should avoid being a burden 
upon the community, and therefore it is his duty to provide 
for the support of himself and those dependent upon him. 
To perform this duty, every one should have some occupa- 
tion by which he can earn his living and follow it indus- 
triously. No self-respecting man is willing to receive his 
support at the expense of others, and, except in cases of 
misfortune, an able-bodied person who is a burden upon 
the community has failed in performing the duties of 
citizenship. 

Taking Part in Public Affairs. — Voting is not only the 
right and privilege of the citizen, but it is also his duty. 
The citizen who is qualified to vote and fails to do so is just 
as responsible for the evils of misgovernment as the man 
who votes for a dishonest candidate or a pernicious govern- 
mental measure. 

This duty should be performed intelligently ; therefore 
every citizen should take part in the discussion of public 
questions and be well informed upon those subjects which 
pertain to the administration of public affairs. In this 
country, the people govern themselves. They are the 
source of all power. Therefore, if the government is bad, 
the responsibility must rest with the people who have 
voted for improper measures or unworthy candidates, or 
both. 

The qualified voter who neglects to perform the duty of 
voting should not complain if dishonest officials plunder 
the public treasury, for he did nothing to prevent it. The 
busy citizen who cannot find time to attend primary elec- 
tions, or political conventions, should not complain of 
unworthy candidates, because he has been willing to let 



258 STATE GOVERNMENT 

others do the work of nominating them, instead of partici- 
pating in the matter himself. 

There are many other duties which we might mention, 
as that of holding public office when the welfare of the 
community will be promoted thereby, the duty of pub- 
lic service, both in peace and war, and the duty of cultivat- 
ing that public spirit which places the good of the state or 
nation above personal profit and ambition ; but all of these 
have been suggested by what has been said, and the intelli- 
gent and patriotic citizen will have no difficulty in discover- 
ing where his duty lies. Duty and conscience should be 
the guides in civil and political life, and those who follow 
and obey are good citizens. 

THE END. 



APPENDIX "A." 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

September 17, 1787. 

Preamble. — We, the people of the United States, in order to 
form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 
quillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general wel- 
fare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our 
posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United 
States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a con- 
gress of the United States, which shall consist of a senate and house 
of representatives. 

2. First. The house of representatives shall be composed of 
members chosen every second year, by the people of the several 
states; and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications 
requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state 
legislature. 

Second. No person shall be a representative who shall not have 
attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a 
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an 
inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen. 

Third. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several states which may be included within this union, 
according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined 

(259) 



260 APPENDIX "A" 

by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those 
bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration 
shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the con- 
gress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of 
ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number 
of representatives shall not exceed one for every 30,000, but each 
state shall have at least one representative; and until such enumera- 
tion shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to 
choose three; Massachusetts, eight; Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New York, six; New Jersey, four; 
Pennsylvania, eight; Delaware, one; Maryland, six; Virginia, ten; 
North Carolina, five; South Carolina, five, and Georgia, three. — See 
14th Amendment. 

Fourth. When vacancies happen in the representation from any 
state, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to 
fill such vacancies. 

Fifth. The house of representatives shall choose their speaker 
and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

3. First. The senate of the United States shall be composed of 
two senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for 
six years; and each senator shall have one vote. 

Second. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence 
of the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, 
into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall 
be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the second class, 
at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class, at the 
expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every 
second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, 
during the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive 
thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting 
of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

Third. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained 
to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant 
of that state for which he shall be chosen. 

Fourth. The vice-president of the United States shall be presi- 
dent of the senate; but shall have no vote, unless they be equally 
divided. 



FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 261 

Fifth. The senate shall choose their other officers, and also a 
president pro tempore in the absence of the vice-president, or when 
he shall exercise the office of president of the United States. 

Sixth. The senate shall have the sole power to try all impeach- 
ments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or 
affirmation. When the president of the United States is tried, the 
chief justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without 
the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. 

Seventh. Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend 
further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold 
and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United 
States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and 
subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according 
to law. 

4. First. The times, places and manner of holding elections 
for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by 
the legislature thereof; but the congress may, at any time, by law, 
make or alter suc^ regulations, except as to the places of choosing 
senators. 

Second. The congress shall assemble at least once in every year, 
and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless 
they shall, by law, appoint a different day. 

5. First. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns 
and qualifications of its own members; and a majority of each shall 
constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may 
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the 
attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such 
penalties as each house may provide. 

Second. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, 
punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the con- 
currence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

Third. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and 
from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, 
in their judgment, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the 
members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire of 
one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

Fourth. Neither house, during the session of congress, shall, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, 



262 APPENDIX "A" 

nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be 
sitting. 

6. First. The senators and representatives shall receive a com- 
pensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out 
of the treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases, except 
treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest 
during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, 
and in going to or returning from the same; and for any speech or 
debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other 
place. 

Second. No senator or representative shall, during the time for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the 
authority of the United States which shall have been created, or 
the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such 
time; and no person holding any office under the United States 
shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office. 

7. First. All bills for raising a revenue shall originate in the 
house of representatives; but the senate may propose or concur with 
amendments, as on other bills. 

Second. Every bill, which shall have passed the house of repre- 
sentatives and the senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be pre- 
sented to the president of the United States; if he approves, he shall 
sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that 
house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objec- 
tions at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, 
after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to 
pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if 
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But 
in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by 
yeas and nays; and the names of the persons voting for and against 
the bill, shall be entered on the journal of each house respec- 
tively. If any bill shall not be returned by the president within ten 
days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, 
the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which 
case, it shall not be a law. 

Third. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence 
of the senate and house of representatives may be necessary (ex- 



FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 263 

cept on a question of adjournment), shall be presented to the 
president of the United States; and before the same shall take 
effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, 
shall be repassed by two-thirds of the senate and house of repre- 
sentatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the 
case of a bill. 

8. The congress shall have power — 

First. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to 
pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general 
welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises 
shall be uniform throughout the United States: 

Second. To borrow money on the credit of the United States: 

Third. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among 
the several states, and with the Indian tribes: 

Fourth. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uni- 
form laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United 
States: 

Fifth. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
coin, and to fix the standard of weights and measures: 

Sixth. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 
securities and current coin of the United States: 

Seventh. To establish post offices and post roads: 

Eighth. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by 
securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive 
right to their respective writings and discoveries: 

Ninth. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court: To 
define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, 
and offenses against the law of nations: 

Tenth. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
make rules concerning captures on land and water: 

Eleventh. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of 
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years: 

Twelfth. To provide and maintain a navy: 

Thirteenth. To make rules for the government and regulation of 
the land and naval forces: 

Fourteenth. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the 
laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions: 

Fifteenth. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the 
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed 



264 APPENDIX "A" 

in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respec- 
tively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training 
the militia according to the discipline prescribed by congress: 

Sixteenth. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatso- 
ever over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by 
cession of particular states, and the acceptance of congress, become 
the seat of government of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased, by the consent of the legislature 
of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful buildings: and 

Seventeenth. To make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all 
other powers vested by this constitution in the government of the 
United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

9. First. The migration or importation of such persons as any of 
the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be 
prohibited by the congress prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

Second. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public 
safety may require it. 

Third. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

Fourth. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in 
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to 
be taken. 

Fifth. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
state. No preference shall be given, by any regulation of commerce 
or revenue, to the ports of one state over those of another; nor 
shall vessels bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear 
or pay duties in another. 

Sixth. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in conse- 
quence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and 
account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall 
be published from time to time. 

Seventh. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
States, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under 
them shall, without the consent of the congress, accept of any 



FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 265 

present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever, from any 
king, prince, or foreign state. 

10. First. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance or confed- 
eration; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills 
of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in pay- 
ment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law 
impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility. 

Second. No state shall, without the consent of the congress, lay 
any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net 
produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or 
exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States, 
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
congress. No state shall, without the consent of congress, lay any 
duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter 
into any agreement or compact with another state or with a foreign 
power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such immi- 
nent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

i. First. The executive power shall be vested in a president of 
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the 
term of four years, and together with the vice-president, chosen for 
the same term, be elected as follows: 

Second. Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legisla- 
ture thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole 
number of senators and representatives to which the state may be 
entitled in the congress; but no senator or representative, or person 
holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall 
be appointed an elector. 

Third. The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote 
by ballot for tzuo -persons, of zuhom one at least shall not be an inhab- 
itant of the same state -with themselves. And they shall make a list of 
all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; -which 
test they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of gov* 
r^nment of the United States, directed to the president of the senate, 
""he president of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and 



266 APPENDIX "A" 

house of representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall 
then be cou?ited. The person having- the greatest number of votes shall 
be the president, if such number be a majority of the -whole number of 
electors appointed; and if there be more than one vuho have such ma- 
jority, and have an equal number of votes, then the house of repre- 
sentatives shall immediately choose, by ballot, one of them for pre si- 
detit; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on 
the list the said house shall, in like manner, choose the president. But 
in choosing the preside?it, the votes shall be taken by states, the repre- 
sentation from each state having one vote : a quorum for this pur- 
pose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. 
I?i every case after the choice of the president, the person having the 
greatest ?ucmber of votes of the electors shall be the vice-president. 
But if there should remain two or more zuho have equal votes, the 
senate shall choose from them, by ballot, the vice-president. [The fore- 
going provisions were changed by the 12th Amendment. 

Fourth. The congress may determine the time of choosing the 
electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which 
day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

Fifth. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of 
the United States at the time of the adoption of this constitution, 
shall be eligible to the office of president; neither shall any person 
be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the 
United States. 

Sixth. In case of the removal of the president from office, or of 
his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and 
duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the vice- 
president, and the congress may, by law, provide for the case of 
removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the president and 
vice-president, declaring what officer shall then act as president, 
and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be re- 
moved, or a president shall be elected. 

Seventh. The president shall, at stated times, receive for his serv- 
ices a compensation, which shall neither be increased or diminished 
during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall 
not receive within that period any other emolument from the United 
States or any of them. 



FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 267 

Eighth. Before he enters on the execution of his office he shall 
take the following oath or affirmation: 

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of 
president of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, 
protect and defend the constitution of the United States. 

2. First. The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several 
states, when called into the actual service of the United States. He 
may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each 
of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties 
of their respective offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves 
and pardons, for offenses against the United States, except in cases 
of impeachment. 

Second. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent 
of the senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators 
present concur; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice 
and consent of the senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public 
ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other 
officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. But 
the congress may, by law, vest the appointment of such inferior 
officers, as they shall think proper, in the president alone, in the 
courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

Third. The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that 
may happen during the recess of the senate, by granting commis- 
sions, which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

3. He shall, from time to time, give to the congress information 
of the state of the Union; and recommend to their consideration 
such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. He may, 
on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, 
and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time 
of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think 
proper. He shall receive ambassadors and other public minister... 
He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and shall 
commission all officers of the United States. 

4. The president, vice-president, and all civil officers of the 
United States, shall be removed from office, on impeachment for 



268 APPENDIX "A" 

and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misde- 
meanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

i. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one 
supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the congress may, 
from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of 
the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good 
behavior; and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a 
compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continu- 
ance in office. 

2. First. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and 
equity, arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, 
and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; 
to all cases, affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and con- 
suls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to contro- 
versies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies 
between two or more states; between a state and citizens of another 
state; between citizens of different states; between citizens of the 
same state, claiming lands under grants of different states; and be- 
tween a state or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or 
subjects. 

Second. In all cases, affecting ambassadors, other public minis- 
ters, and consuls, and those in which a state shall be a party, the 
supreme court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other 
cases before mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate 
jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under 
such regulations as the congress shall make. 

Third. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, 
shall be by jury; and such trials shall be held in the state where the 
said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed 
within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the 
congress may by law have directed. 

3. First. Treason against the United States shall consist only in 
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason 
unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
on confession in open court. 



FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 269 

Second. The congress shall have power to declare the punishment 
of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of 
blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

1. Full faith and credit shall be given, in each state, to the public 
acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other state. And 
the congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which 
such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect 
thereof. 

2. First. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privi- 
leges and immunities of citizens in the several states. 

Second. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or 
other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another 
state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from 
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having 
jurisdiction of the crime. 

Third. No person held to service or labor in one state under the 
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any 
law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor; 
but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such serv- 
ice or labor may be due. 

3. First. New states may be admitted by the congress of this 
Union; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the ju- 
risdiction of any other state, nor any state be formed by the junc- 
tion of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent 
of the legislatures of the states concerned, as well as of the con- 
gress. 

Second. The congress shall have power to dispose of and make 
all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other 
property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this con- 
stitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the 
United States or of any particular state. 

4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union 
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them 
against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the 



270 APPENDIX "A" 

executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against do- 
mestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution; or, on 
the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, 
shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either 
case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this con- 
stitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the 
several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the 
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the con- 
gress: Provided, that no amendment which may be made prior to 
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in any man- 
ner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of 1 he 
first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived 
of its equal suffrage in the senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

i. First. All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, be- 
fore the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the 
United States, under this constitution, as under the confederation. 

Second. This constitution and the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which 
shall be made under authority of the United States, shall be the 
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be 
bound thereby; anything in the constitution or laws of any state 
to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Third. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and 
the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several 
states, shall be bound, by oath or affirmation, to support this con- 
stitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualifica- 
tion to any office or public trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 
The ratification of the conventions of nine states shall be suffi- 



FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 271 

cient for the establishment of this constitution between the states 
so ratifying the same. 

Done in convention, by the unanimous consent of the states 
present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the inde- 
pendence of the United States of America the twelfth. 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of re- 
ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the 
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peace- 
ably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of 
grievances. 

II. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not 
be infringed. 

III. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a man- 
ner to be prescribed by law. 

IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall 
not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable 
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing 
the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or other- 
wise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 
grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in 
the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger; 
nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any crim- 
inal case, to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, 
liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private 
property be taken for public use without just compensation. 

VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the 
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state 
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which 
district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be 
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be con- 



272 APPENDIX "A" 

fronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process 
for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of 
counsel for his defense. 

VII. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy 
shall exceed $20, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and 
no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court 
of the United States, than according to the rules of the common 
law. 

VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

IX. The enumeration, in the constitution, of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 

X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the consti- 
tution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states 
respectively, or to the people. 

XL The judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prose- 
cuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, 
o r by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. 

XII. 1. The electors shall meet in their respective states and 
vote by ballot for president and vice-president, one of whom at 
least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; 
they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as president, 
and in distinct ballots the person voted for as vice-president; and 
they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as president, 
and of all persons voted for as vice-president, and of the number 
of votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, and trans- 
mit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, di- 
rected to the president of the senate; the president of the senate 
shall, in the presence of the senate and house of representatives, 
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the 
person having the greatest number of votes for president shall be 
the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number 
of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, 
on the list of those voted for as president, the house of represent- 
atives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the president. But in 
choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by states, the rep- 



FEDERAL CONSTITUTION 273 

resentation from each state having one vote: a quorum for this pur- 
pose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a 
choice. And if the house of representatives shall not choose a 
president whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, 
before the fourth day of March next following, then the vice-presi- 
dent shall act as president, as in the case of the death or other con- 
stitutional disability of the president. 

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as vice-presi- 
dent, shall be the vice-president, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a 
majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list the sen- 
ate shall choose a vice-president. A quorum for the purpose shall 
consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a ma- 
jority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of presi- 
dent shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United States. 

XIII. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to 
their jurisdiction. 

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropri- 
ate legislation. 

XIV. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and 
.subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States 
and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce 
any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens 
of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, 
liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any per- 
son within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states, 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number 
of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when 
the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for presi- 
dent and vice-president of the United States, representatives in con- 
gress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members 
of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of 
such state being 21 years of age and citizens of the United States, 
or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other 



274 APPENDIX "A" 

crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the 
proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to 
the whole number of male citizens 21 years of age in such state. 

3. No person shall be a senator or representative in congress, 
or elector of president and vice-president, or hold any office, civil or 
military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having 
previously taken an oath as a member of congress, or as an officer 
of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as 
an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the constitu- 
tion of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or re- 
bellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
thereof. But congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, 
remove such disability. 

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized 
by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and 
bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall 
not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall 
assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection 
or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or 
emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and 
claims shall be held illegal and void. 

5. The congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate leg- 
islation, the provisions of this article. 

XV. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall 
not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on ac- 
count of race, color or previous condition of servitude. 

2. The congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
priate legislation. 



APPENDIX " B. w 



The People of the State of Michigan do Ordain this Constitution: 
ARTICLE I. 

BOUNDARIES. 

The State of Michigan consists of and has jurisdiction over the 
territory embraced within the following boundaries, to wit: Com- 
mencing at a point on the eastern boundary line of the State ot 
Indiana, where a direct line drawn from the southern extremity of 
Lake Michigan to the most northerly cape of the Maumee Bay shall 
intersect the same, said point being the northwest corner of the State 
of Ohio, as established by act of Congress, entitled "An act to estab- 
lish the northern boundary line of the State of Ohio, and to provide 
for the admission of the State of Michigan into the Union upon the 
conditions therein expressed," approved June fifteenth, one thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-six ; thence with the said boundary line of 
the State of Ohio till it intersects the boundary line between the 
United States and Canada in Lake Erie ; thence with said boundary 
line between the United States and Canada through the Detroit 
River, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior, to a point where the said 
line last touches Lake Superior ; thence in a direct line through Lake 
Superior to the mouth of the Montreal River ; thence through the 
middle of the main channel of the said river Montreal to the head 
waters thereof ; thence in a direct line to the center of the channel 
between Middle and South Islands, in the Lake of the Desert; 
thence in a direct line to the southern shore of Lake Brule; thence 
along said southern shore, and down the river Brule to the main 
channel of the Menominee River ; thence down the center of the main 

(275) 



276 APPENDIX "B" 

channe" of the same to the center of the most usual ship channel of the 
Green Bay of Lake Michigan ; thence through the center of the most 
usual ship channel of the said bay to the middle of Lake Michigan; 
thence through the middle of Lake Michigan to the northern bound- 
ary of the State of Indiana, as that line was established by the 
act of Congress of the nineteenth of April, eighteen hundred and 
sixteen; thence due east with the north boundary line of the said 
State of Indiana to the northeast corner thereof; and thence south 
with the eastern boundary line of Indiana to the place of beginning. 

ARTICLE II. 

SEAT OF GOVERNMENT. 

Section i. The Seat of Government shall be at Lansing, where 
it is now established. 

ARTICLE III. 

DIVISIONS of the powers of government. 

Section I. The powers of Government are divided into three 
departments : the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. 

Sec. 2. No person belonging to one department shall exercise 
the powers properly belonging to another, except in the cases ex- 
pressly provided in this Constitution. 

ARTICLE IV. 
LEGISLATIVE department. 

Section i. The Legislative power is vested in a Senate and 
House of Representatives. 

Sec 2. The Senate shall consist of thirty-two members. Sen- 
ators shall be elected for two years, and by single districts. Such 
districts shall be numbered from one to thirty-two, inclusive; each 
of which shall choose one Senator. No county shall be divided in 
the formation of Senate districts, except such county shall be equi- 
tably entitled to two or more Senators. 

Sec. 3. The House of Representatives shall consist of not less 
than sixty-four, nor more than one hundred, members, Representa- 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 277 

tives shall be chosen for two years, and by single districts. Each 
Representative district shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal 
number of inhabitants, exclusive of persons of Indian descent who 
are not civilized, or are members of any tribe, and shall consist of 
convenient and contiguous territory ; but no township or city shall 
be divided in the formation of a Representative district. When any 
township or city shall contain a population which entitles it to 
more than one Representative, then such township or city shall 
elect, by general ticket, the number of Representatives to which it is 
entitled. Each county hereafter organized, with such territory as. 
may be attached thereto, shall be entitled to a separate Representa- 
tive, when it has attained a population equal to a moiety of the ratio 
of representation. In every county entitled to more than one Rep- 
resentative, the board of supervisors shall assemble at such time 
and place as the Legislature shall prescribe, and divide the same 
into Representative districts equal to the number of Representatives 
to which such county is entitled by law, and shall cause to be filed 
in the offices of the Secretary of State and clerk of such county a 
description of such Representative districts, specifying the number 
of each district and population thereof, according to the last pre- 
ceding enumeration. 

Sec. 4. The Legislature shall provide by law for an enumeration 
of the inhabitants in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and 
every ten years thereafter; and at the first session after each enu- 
meration so made, and also at the first session after each enumera- 
tion by the authority of the United States, the Legislature shall 
rearrange the Senate districts and apportion anew the Representa- 
tives among the counties and districts, according to the number of 
inhabitants, exclusive of persons of Indian descent who are not 
civilized or are members of any tribe. Each apportionment, and the 
division into Representative districts by any board of supervisors, 
shall remain unaltered until the return of another enumeration. 

Sec. 5. Senators and Representatives shall be citizens of the 
United States, and qualified electors in the respective counties and 
districts which they represent. A removal from their respective 
counties or districts shall be deemed a vacation of their office. 

Sec. 6. No person holding any office under the United States, or 
any county office, except notaries public, officers of the militia, and 



278 APPENDIX "B" 

officers elected by townships, shall be eligible to or have a seat in 
either house of the Legislature ; and all votes given for any such 
persons shall be void. 

Sec. 7. Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases, except 
treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest. 
They shall not be subject to any civil process during the session of 
the Legislature, or for fifteen days next before the commencement 
and after the termination of each session. They shall not be ques- 
tioned in any other place for any speech in either house. 

Sec. 8. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do. 
business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and 
compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under 
such penalties as each house may prescribe. 

Sec. 9. Each house shall choose its own officers, determine the 
rules of its proceedings, and judge of the qualifications, elections, 
and returns of its members ; and may, with the concurrence of two- 
thirds of all the members elected, expel a member. No member 
shall be expelled a second time for the same cause, nor for any cause 
known to his constituents antecedent to his election. The reason for 
such expulsion shall be entered upon the journal, with the names of 
the members voting on the question. 

Sec. 10. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and 
publish the same, except such parts as may require secrecy. The 
yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall 
be entered on the journal at the request of one-fifth of the members 
elected. Any member of either house may dissent from and protest 
against any act, proceeding, or resolution which he may deem injuri- 
ous to any person or the public, and have the reason of his dissent 
entered on the journal. 

Sec. II. In all elections by either house, or in joint convention, 
the votes shall be given viva voce. All votes or nominations to the 
Senate shall be taken by yeas and nays, and published with the 
journal of its proceedings. 

Sec. 12. The doors of each house shall be open, unless the public 
welfare requires secrecy. Neither house shall, without the consent 
of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
place than where the Legislature may then be in session. 

Sec. 13. Bills may originate in either house of the Legislature. 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 279 

Sec. 14. Every bill and concurrent resolution, except of adjourn- 
ment, passed by the Legislature shall be presented to the Governor 
before it becomes a law. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, 
he shall return it with his objections to the house in which it orig- 
inated, which shall enter the objections at large upon their journal, 
and reconsider it. On such reconsideration, if two-thirds of the 
members elected agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent with the objec- 
tions to the other house, by which it shall be reconsidered, If 
approved by two-thirds of the members elected to that house, it shall 
become a law. In such case the vote of both houses shall be deter- 
mined by yeas and nays ; and the names of the members voting for 
and against the bill shall be entered on the journals of each house 
respectively. If any bill be not returned by the Governor within ten 
days, Sundays excepted, after it has been presented to him, the same 
shall become a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the 
Legislature, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case 
it shall not become a law. The Governor may approve, sign, and file 
in the office of the Secretary of State, within five days after the ad- 
journment of the Legislature, any act passed during the last five 
days of the session ; and the same shall become a law. 

Sec. 15. The compensation of the members of the Legislature 
shall be three dollars per day for actual attendance, and when absent 
on account of sickness, but the Legislature may allow extra compen- 
sation to the members from the territory of the Upper Peninsula, 
not exceeding two dollars per day during a session. When convened 
in extra session, their compensation shall be three dollars a day for 
the first twenty days, and nothing thereafter ; and they shall legislate 
on no other subjects than those expressly stated in the Governor's 
proclamation, or submitted to them by special message. They shall 
be entitled to ten cents and no more for every mile actually traveled 
in going to and returning from the place of meeting, on the usually 
traveled route; and for stationery and newspapers, not exceeding 
five dollars for each member during any session. Each member 
shall be entitled to one copy of the laws, journals, and documents 
of the Legislature of which he was a member ; but shall not receive, 
at the expense of the State, books, newspapers, or other perquisites 
of office, not expressly authorized by this Constitution. 

Sec. 16. The Legislature may provide by law for the payment of 



280 APPENDIX "B" 

postage on all mailable matter received by its members and officers 
during the sessions of the Legislature, but not on any sent or mailed 
by them. 

Sec. 17. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives shall be entitled to the same per diem 
compensation and mileage as members of the Legislature, and no 
more. 

Sec. 18. No person elected a member of the Legislature shall 
receive any civil appointment within this State, or to the Senate of 
the United States, from the Governor, the Governor and Senate, 
from the Legislature, or any other State authority, during the term 
for which he is elected. All such appointments, and all votes given 
for any person so elected for any such office or appointment shall be 
void. No member of the Legislature shall be interested, directly or 
indirectly, in any contract with the State, or any county thereof, 
authorized by any law passed during the time for which he is elected, 
nor for one year thereafter. 

Sec. 19. Every bill and joint resolution shall be read three times 
in each house, before the final passage thereof. No bill or joint reso- 
lution shall become a law without the concurrence of a majority of 
all the members elected to each house. On the final passage of all 
bills, the vote shall be by yeas and nays, and entered on the journal, 

Sec 20. No law shall embrace more than one object, which shall 
be expressed in its title. No public act shall take effect or be in 
force until the expiration of ninety days from the end of the session 
at which the same is passed, unless the Legislature shall otherwise 
direct by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each house. 

Sec. 21. The Legislature shall not grant nor authorize extra com- 
pensation to any public officer, agent, or contractor, after the service 
has been rendered or the contract entered into. 

Sec. 22. The Legislature shall provide by law that the furnishing 
of fuel and stationery for the use of the State, the printing and bind- 
ing the laws and journals, all blanks, paper, and printing for the 
executive departments, and all other printing ordered by the Legis- 
lature, shall be let by contract to the lowest bidder or bidders, who 
shall give adequate and satisfactory security for the performance 
thereof. The Legislature shall prescribe by law the manner in which 
the State printing shall be executed, and the accounts rendered 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 281 

therefor ; and shall prohibit all charges for constructive labor. They 
shall not rescind nor alter such contract, nor release the person or 
persons taking the same, or his or their sureties, from the perform- 
ance of any of the conditions of the contract. No member of the 
Legislature, nor officer of the State, shall be interested directly or 
indirectly in any such contract. 

Sec. 23. The Legislature shall not authorize, by private or special 
law, the sale or conveyance of any real estate belonging to any per- 
son; nor vacate nor alter any road laid out by commissioners of 
highways, or any street in any city or village, or in any recorded 
town plat. 

Sec. 24. The Legislature may authorize the employment of a 
chaplain for the State Prison ; but no money shall be appropriated 
for the payment of any religious services in either house of the 
Legislature. 

Sec. 25. No law shall be revised, altered, or amended, by refer- 
ence to its title only; but the act revised, and the section or sections 
of the act altered or amended, shall be re-enacted and published at 
length. 

Sec. 26. Divorces shall not be granted by the Legislature. 

Sec. 27. The Legislature shall not authorize any lottery, nor per- 
mit the sale of lottery tickets. 

Sec. 28. No new bill shall be introduced into either house of the 
Legislature after the first fifty days of a session shall have expired. 

Sec. 29. In case of a contested election, the person only shall 
receive from the State per diem compensation and mileage, who is 
declared to be entitled to a seat by the house in which the contest 
takes place. 

Sec. 30. No collector, holder, nor disburser of public moneys 
shall have a seat in the Legislature, or be eligible to any office of 
trust or profit under this State, until he shall have accounted for and 
paid over, as provided by law, all sums for which he may be liable. 

Sec. 31. The Legislature shall not audit nor allow any private 
claim or account. 

Sec. 32. The Legislature, on the day of final adjournment, shall 
adjourn at twelve o'clock at noon. 

Sec. 33. The Legislature shall meet at the seat of government 
on the first Wednesday in January, in the year one thousand eight 



282 APPENDIX " B " 

hundred and sixty-one, and on the first Wednesday of January in 
every second year thereafter, and at no other place or time, unless as 
provided in the Constitution of the State, and shall adjourn without 
day at such time as the Legislature shall fix by concurrent resolu- 
tion. 

Sec. 34. The election of Senators and Representatives, pursuant 
to the provisions of this Constitution, shall be held on the Tuesday 
succeeding the first Monday of November, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and fifty-two, and on the Tuesday succeeding the first 
Monday of November of every second year thereafter. 

Sec. 35. The Legislature shall not establish a State paper. Every 
newspaper in the State which shall publish all the general laws of 
any session within forty days of their passage shall be entitled to 
receive a sum not exceeding fifteen dollars therefor. 

Sec. 36. The Legislature shall provide for the speedy publication 
of all statute laws of a public nature, and of such judicial decisions 
as it may deem expedient. All laws and judicial decisions shall be 
free for publication by any person. 

Sec. 37. The Legislature may declare the cases in which any 
office shall be deemed vacant, and also the manner of filling the 
vacancy, where no provision is made for that purpos-e in this Consti- 
tution. 

Sec. 38. The Legislature may confer upon organized townships, 
incorporated cities and villages, and upon the board of supervisors 
of the several counties, such powers of a local, legislative, and ad- 
ministrative character as they may deem proper. 

Sec. 39. The Legislature shall pass no law to prevent any person 
from worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of his own 
conscience, or to compel any person to attend, erect, or support any 
place of religious worship, or to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for 
the support of any minister of the gospel or teacher of religion. 

Sec. 40. No money shall be appropriated or drawn from the 
Treasury for the benefit of any religious sect or society, theological 
or religious seminary, nor shall property belonging to the State be 
appropriated for any such purposes. 

Sec. 41. The Legislature shall not diminish or enlarge the civil 
or political rights, privileges, and capacities of any person on account 
of his opinion or belief concerning matters of religion. 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 283 

Sec. 42. No law shall ever be passed to restrain or abridge the 
liberty of speech or of the press; but every person may freely 
speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being respon- 
sible for the abuse of such right. 

Sec. 43. The Legislature shall pass no bill of attainder, ex post 
facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts,, 
. Sec. 44. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus remains, and 
shall not be suspended by the Legislature, except, in case of rebellion 
or invasion, the public safety require it. 

Sec. 45. The assent of two-thirds of the members elected to each 
house of the Legislature shall be requisite to every bill appropriating 
the public money or property for local or private purposes. 

Sec. 46. The Legislature may authorize a trial by jury of a less 
number than twelve men. 

Sec. 47. The Legislature shall not pass any act authorizing the 
grant of license for the sale of ardent spirits or other intoxicating 
liquors.* 

Sec. 48. The style of the laws shall be, "The people of the State 
of Michigan enact." 

Sec. 49. The Legislature may provide for the laying out, con- 
struction and maintenance of county and township roads, and may 
provide that any road heretofore laid out shall be a county or town- 
ship road. County roads may be maintained at the expense of the 
county, and township roads at the expense of the township. County 
roads shall be under the control of a board of commissioners not 
to exceed five in number, who shall be elected by the people, the 
number of said commissioners to be fixed by the board of super- 
visors of the county. For the construction and maintenance of 
county roads the commissioners may provide for an annual tax not 
exceeding two dollars upon each one thousand dollars of the assess- 
ment roll of the county for the preceding year. No county shall 
incur any indebtedness or issue any bonds for the construction and 
maintenance of county roads, except upon a vote of two-thirds of all 
the supervisors elected, and then to be approved by a majority vote 
at any general or special election ; nor shall any such indebtedness 
at any time exceed three per cent, of the valuation of the county 



* Stricken out by Legislature of 1875. Amendment approved by the people at the 
general election, 1876. 



284 APPENDIX "B" 

upon the last preceding assessment roll. The Legislature may mod- 
ify, change or repeal the powers and duties of the township com- 
missioner of highways and overseer of highways. The Legislature 
may pass all necessary laws to carry this amendment into effect : 
Provided, that any act or acts passed by the Legislature to carry 
this amendment into effect shall provide for a county and township 
system, and the county system shall become operative only in such 
counties as shall adopt it by a majority vote of the electors of said 
county, after the said question has been submitted to them by a two- 
thirds vote of all the members elect of the board of supervisors of 
such county, at a general or special election called for that purpose. 

ARTICLE V. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section i. The executive power is vested in a Governor, who 
shall hold his office for two years. A Lieutenant Governor shall be 
chosen for the same term. 

Sec. 2. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or 
Lieutenant Governor, who has not been five years a citizen of the 
United States, and a resident of this State two years next preceding 
his election ; nor shall any person be eligible to either office who has 
not attained the age of thirty years. 

Sec. 3. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be elected 
at the times and places of choosing the members of the Legislature. 
The person having the highest number of votes for Governor or 
Lieutenant Governor shall be elected. In case two or more persons 
shall have an equal and the highest number of votes for Governor 
or Lieutenant Governor, the Legislature shall, by joint vote, choose 
one of such persons. 

Sec 4. The Governor shall be Commander-in-Chief of the military 
and naval forces, and may call out such forces to execute the laws, 
to suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions. 

Sec. 5. He shall transact all necessary business with officers of 
government, and may require information, in writing, from the offi- 
cers of the executive department, upon any subject relating to the 
duties of their respective offices. 

Sec. 6. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 285 

Sec. 7. He may convene the Legislature on extraordinary occa- 
sions. 

Sec. 8. He shall give to the Legislature, and, at the close of his 
official term, to the next Legislature, information by message of the 
condition of the State, and recommend such measures to them as 
he shall deem expedient. 

Sec. 9. He may convene the Legislature at some other place, 
when the seat of government becomes dangerous from disease or a 
common enemy. 

Sec. 10. He shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as 
occur in the Senate or House of Representatives. 

Sec. II. He may grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons 
after convictions, for all offenses except treason and cases of im- 
peachment, upon such conditions, and with such restrictions and 
limitations, as he may think proper, subject to regulations provided 
by law, relative to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon con- 
viction for treason, he may suspend the execution of the sentence 
until the case shall be reported to the Legislature at its next session, 
when the Legislature shall either pardon, or commute the sentence, 
direct the execution of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. 
He shall communicate to the Legislature at each session information 
of each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, and the 
reasons therefor. 

Sec. 12. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, his removal 
from office, death, inability, resignation, or absence from the State, 
the powers and duties of the office shall devolve upon the Lieuten- 
ant Governor, for the residue of the term, or until the disability 
ceases. When the Governor shall be out of the State in time of 
war, at the head of a military force thereof, he shall continue Com- 
mander-in-Chief of all the military force of the State. 

Sec. 13. During a vacancy in the office of Governor, if the Lieu- 
tenant Governor die, resign, or be impeached, displaced, be incapa- 
ble of performing the duties of his office, or absent from the State, 
the President pro tempore of the Senate shall act as Governor, until 
the vacancy shall be filled, or the disability cease. 

Sec. 14. The Lieutenant Governor shall, by virtue of his office, 
be President of the Senate. In committee of the whole he may 



286 APPENDIX "B" 

debate all questions; and when there is an equal division, he shall 
give the casting vote. 

Sec. 15. No member of Congress, nor any person holding office 
under the United States, or this State, shall execute the office of 
Governor. 

Sec. 16. No person elected Governor or Lieutenant Governor 
shall be eligible to any office or appointment from the Legislature, 
or either house thereof, during the time for which he was elected. 
All votes for either of them, for any such office, shall be void. 

Sec. 17. The Lieutenant [Governor] and President of the Senate 
pro tempore, when performing the duties of Governor, shall receive 
the same compensation as the Governor. 

Sec. 18. All official acts of the Governor, his approval of the laws 
excepted, shall be authenticated by the great seal of the State, which 
shall be kept by the Secretary of State. 

Sec. 19. All commissions issued to persons holding office under 
the provisions of this Constitution shall be in the name and by the 
authority of the people of the State of Michigan, sealed with the 
great seal of the State, signed by the Governor, and countersigned 
by the Secretary of State. 

ARTICLE VI. 

JUDICIAL department. 

Section i. The judicial power is vested in one Supreme Court, 
in circuit courts, in probate courts, and in justices of the peace. 
Municipal courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction may be estab- 
lished by the Legislature in cities. 

Sec. 2. For the term of six years, and thereafter, until the Legis- 
lature otherwise provide, the judges of the several circuit courts 
shall be Judges of the Supreme Court, four of whom shall constitute 
a quorum. A concurrence of three shall be necessary to a final deci- 
sion. After six years the Legislature may provide by law for the 
organization of a Supreme Court, with the jurisdiction and powers 
prescribed in this Constitution, to consist of one Chief Justice and 
three Associate Justices, to be chosen by the electors of the State. 
Such Supreme Court, when so organized, shall not be changed or 
discontinued by the Legislature for eight years thereafter. The 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 287 

Judges thereof shall be so classified that but one of them shall go out 
of office at the same time. Their term o£ office shall be eight years. 

Sec. 3. The Supreme Court shall have a general superintending 
control over all inferior courts, and shall have power to issue writs 
of error, habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto, procedendo, and 
other original and remedial writs, and to hear and determine the 
same. In all other cases it shall have appellate jurisdiction only. 

Sec. 4. Four terms of the Supreme Court shall be held annually, 
at such times and places as may be designated by law. 

Sec. 5. The Supreme Court shall by general rules establish, mod- 
ify and amend the practice in such court and in the circuit courts, 
and simplify the same. The Legislature shall, as far as practicable, 
abolish distinctions between law and equity proceedings. The office 
of master in chancery is prohibited. 

Sec. 6. The State shall be divided into judicial circuits; in each 
of which the electors thereof shall elect one circuit judge, who shall 
hold his office for the term of six years, and until his successor is 
elected and qualified. The Legislature may provide for the election 
of more than one circuit judge in the judicial circuit in which the 
city of Detroit is or may be situated, and in the judicial circuit in 
which the county of Saginaw is or may be situated, and in the 
judicial circuit in which the county of Kent is or may be situated, 
and the circuit judge or judges of said circuits, in addition to the 
salary provided by this Constitution, shall receive from their re- 
spective counties such additional salary as may from time to time 
be fixed and determined by the boards of supervisors of said coun- 
ties. And the board of supervisors of each county in the Upper 
Peninsula is hereby authorized and empowered to give and pay to 
the circuit judge of the judicial circuit to which such county is 
attached such additional salary or compensation as may from time 
to time be fixed and determined by such board of supervisors. This 
section, as amended, shall take effect from the time of its adoption. 

Sec. 7. The Legislature may alter the limits of circuits, or in- 
crease the number of the same. No alteration or increase shall have 
the effect to remove a judge from office. In every additional circuit 
established, the judge shall be- eketedJiX. tne electors of such circuit, 
and his term of office shall continue, as provided in this Constitu- 
tion for judges of the circuit court. 



288 APPENDIX " B " 

Sec. 8. The circuit court shall have original jurisdiction in all 
matters, civil and criminal, not excepted in this Constitution, and 
not prohibited by law; and appellate jurisdiction from all inferior 
courts and tribunals, and a supervisory control of the same. They 
shall also have power to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, 
injunction, quo warranto, certiorari, and other writs necessary to 
carry into effect their orders, judgments, and decrees, and give them 
a general control over inferior courts and tribunals within their 
respective jurisdictions, and in all such other cases and matters as 
the Supreme Court shall by rule prescribe. 

Sec. 9. Each of the judges of the circuit courts shall receive a 
salary, payable quarterly. They shall be ineligible to any other than 
a judicial office during the term for which they are elected, and for 
one year thereafter. All votes for any person elected such judge 
for any office other than judicial, given either by the Legislature or 
the people, shall be void. 

Sec. 10. The Supreme Court may appoint a reporter of its deci- 
sions. The decisions of the Supreme Court shall be in writing, and 
signed by the judges concurring therein. Any judge dissenting 
therefrom shall give the reasons of such dissent in writing, under 
his signature. All such opinions shall be filed in the office of the 
clerk of the Supreme Court. The judges of the circuit court, within 
their respective jurisdictions, may fill vacancies in the office of 
county clerk and of prosecuting attorney ; but no Judge of the 
Supreme Court, or circuit court, shall exercise any other power of 
appointment to public office. 

Sec. 11. A circuit court shall be held at least twice in each year 
in every county organized for judicial purposes, and four times in 
each year in counties containing ten thousand inhabitants. Judges 
of the circuit court may hold courts for each other, and shall do so 
when required by law. 

Sec. 12. The clerk of each county organized for judicial purposes 
shall be the clerk of the circuit court of such county. The Supreme 
Court shall have power to appoint a clerk for such Supreme Court. 

Sec. 13. In each of the counties organized for judicial purposes 
there shall be a court of probate. The judge of such court shall be 
elected by the electors of the county in which he resides, and shall 
hold his office for four years, and until his successor is elected and 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 289 

qualified. The jurisdiction, powers and duties of such court shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 14. When a vacancy occurs in the office of Judge of the 
Supreme, circuit, or probate court, it shall be filled by appointment 
of the Governor, which shall continue until a successor is elected 
and qualified. When elected, such successor shall hold his office 
the residue of the unexpired term. 

Sec. 15. The Supreme Court, the circuit and probate courts of 
each county, shall be courts of record, and shall each have a com- 
mon seal. 

Sec. 16. The Legislature may provide by law for the election of 
one or more persons in each organized county, who may be vested 
with judicial powers, not exceeding those of a judge of the circuit 
court at chambers. 

Sec. 17. There shall be not exceeding four justices of the peace 
in each organized township. They shall be elected by the electors 
of the townships, and shall hold their offices for four years, and until 
their successors are elected and qualified. At the first election in 
any township, they shall be classified as shall be prescribed by law. 
A justice elected to fill a vacancy shall hold his office for the residue 
of the unexpired term. The Legislature may increase the number 
of justices in cities. 

Sec. 18. In civil cases, justices of the peace shall have exclusive 
jurisdiction to the amount of one hundred dollars, and concurrent 
jurisdiction to the amount of three hundred dollars, which may be 
increased to five hundred dollars, with such exceptions and restric- 
tions as may be provided by law. They shall also have such crim- 
inal jurisdiction, and perform such duties, as shall be prescribed by 
the Legislature. 

Sec. 19. Judges of the Supreme Court, circuit judges, and jus- 
tices of the peace shall be conservators of the peace within their 
respective jurisdictions. 

Sec. 20. The first election of judges of the circuit courts shall be 
held on the first Monday in April, one thousand eight hundred and 
fifty-one, and every sixth year thereafter. Whenever an additional 
circuit is created, provision shall be made to hold the subsequent 
election of such additional judge at the regular election herein pro- 
vided. 



290 APPENDIX " B " 

Sec. 21. The first election of judges of the probate courts shall 
be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November, 
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, and every fourth year 
thereafter. 

Sec. 22. Whenever a judge shall remove beyond the limits of 
the jurisdiction for which he was elected, or a justice of the peace 
from the township in which he was elected, or by a change in the 
boundaries of such township shall be placed without the same, they 
shall be deemed to have vacated their respective offices. 

Sec. 23. The Legislature may establish courts of conciliation, 
with such powers and duties as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 24. Any suitor in any court of this State shall have the 
right to prosecute or defend his suit, either in his own proper per- 
son, or by an attorney or agent of his choice. 

Sec. 25. In all prosecutions for libels, the truth may be given in 
evidence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that the mat- 
ter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives 
and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted. The jury shall 
have the right to determine the law and the fact. 

Sec. 26. The person, houses, papers, and possessions of every 
person shall be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures. No 
warrant to search any place or to seize any person or things shall 
issue without describing them, nor without probable cause, supported 
by oath or affirmation. 

Sec. 27. The right of trial by jury shall remain, but shall be 
deemed to be waived in all civil cases, unless demanded by one of 
the parties in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 28. In every criminal prosecution, the accused shall have the 
right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, which may 
consist of less than twelve men in all courts not of record; to be 
informed of the nature of the accusation ; to be confronted with the 
witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor, and have the assistance of counsel for his 
defense. 

Sec. 29. No person, after acquittal upon the merits, shall be tried 
for the same offense. All persons shall, before conviction, be bail- 
able by sufficient sureties, except for murder and treason, when the 
proof is evident or the presumption great. 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 291 

Sec. 30. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying 
war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and 
comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless upon the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in 
open court. 

Sec. 31. Excessive bail shall not be required; excessive fines shall 
not be imposed ; cruel or unusual punishment shall not be inflicted ; 
nor shall witnesses be unreasonably detained. 

Sec. 32. No person shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to 
be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law. 

Sec. 33. No person shall be imprisoned for debt arising out of 
or founded on a contract, express or implied, except in cases of 
fraud or breach of trust, or of moneys collected by public officers, 
or in any professional employment. No person shall be imprisoned 
for a militia fine in time of peace. 

Sec. 34. No person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness 
on account of his opinions on matters of religious belief. 

Sec. 35. The style of all process shall be: "In the name of the 
People of the State of Michigan." 

ARTICLE VII. 

elections. 

Section i. In all elections, every male inhabitant of this State, 
being a citizen of the United States, every male inhabitant residing 
in this State on the twenty-fourth day of June, eighteen hundred 
thirty-five, every male inhabitant residing in the State on the first 
day of January, eighteen hundred fifty, every male inhabitant of 
foreign birth who, having resided in the State two years and six 
months prior to the eighth day of November, eighteen hundred 
ninety-four, and having declared his intention to become a citizen 
of the United States two years and six months prior to said last 
named day, and every civilized male inhabitant of Indian descent, 
a native of the United States and not a member of any tribe, shall 
be an elector and entitled to vote ; but no one shall be an elector 
or entitled to vote at any election unless he shall be above the 
age of twenty-one years, and has resided in this State six months 



292 APPENDIX "B" 

and in the township or ward in which he offers to vote twenty 
days next preceding such election: Provided, that in time of war, 
insurrection or rebellion no qualified elector in the actual military 
service of the United States, or of this State, or in the army or navy 
thereof, shall be deprived of his vote by reason of his absence 
from the township, ward or state in which he resides, and the 
Legislature shall have the power, and shall provide the manner in 
which and the time and place at which such absent electors may 
vote, and for the canvass and return of their votes to the township 
or ward election district in which they respectively reside or other- 
wise. 

Sec. 2. All votes shall be given by ballot, except for such town- 
ship officers as may be authorized by law to be otherwise chosen. 

Sec. 3. Every elector, in all cases, except treason, felony, or 
breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during his 
attendance at election, and in going to and returning from the same. 

Sec. 4. No elector shall be obliged to do military duty on the 
day of election, except in time of war or public danger; or attend 
court as a suitor or witness. 

Sec. 5. No elector shall be deemed to have gained or lost a resi- 
dence by reason of his being employed in the service of the United 
States or of this State; nor while engaged in the navigation of the 
waters of this State or of the United States, or of the high seas; 
nor while a student of any seminary of learning; nor while kept at 
any almshouse or other asylum at public expense ; nor while con- 
fined in any public prison, except that honorably discharged soldiers, 
sailors and marines who have served in the military or naval forces 
of the United States or of this State, and who reside in soldiers' 
homes established by the State, may acquire a residence where such 
home is located. 

Sec. 6. Laws may be passed to preserve the purity of elections 
and guard against abuses of the elective franchise. 

Sec. 7. No soldier, seaman, nor marine in the army or navy of 
the United States shall be deemed a resident of this State in con- 
sequence of being stationed in any military or naval place within 
the same. 

Sec. 8. Any inhabitant who may hereafter be engaged in a duel, 
either as principal or accessory before the fact, shall be disqualified 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 293 

from holding any office under the Constitution and laws of this 
State, and shall not be permitted to vote at any election. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

STATE OFFICERS. 

Section i. There shall be elected at each general biennial elec- 
tion, a Secretary of State, a Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
a State Treasurer, a Commissioner of the Land Office, an Auditor 
General, and an Attorney General, for the term of two years. They 
shall keep their offices at the seat of government, and shall perform 
such duties as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 2. Their term of office shall commence on the first day of 
January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and of every 
second year thereafter. 

Sec. 3. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in any of the State 
offices, the Governor shall fill the same by appointment, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, if in session. 

Sec. 4. The Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and Commis- 
sioner of the State Land Office, shall constitute a Board of State 
Auditors, to examine and adjust all claims against the State, not 
otherwise provided for by general law. They shall constitute a 
Board of State Canvassers, to determine the result of all elections 
for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and State officers, and of such 
other officers as shall by law be referred to them. 

Sec. 5. In case two or more persons have an equal and the high- 
est number of votes for any office, as canvassed by the Board of 
State Canvassers, the Legislature in joint convention shall choose 
one of said persons to fill such office. When the determination of 
the Board of State Canvassers is contested, the Legislature in joint 
convention shall decide which person is elected. 

ARTICLE IX. 



Section i. The Governor shall receive an annual salary of four 
thousand dollars; the judges of the Circuit Court shall each receive 
an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars; the State 



294 APPENDIX " B " 

Treasurer shall receive an annual salary of one thousand dollars; 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall receive an annual sal- 
ary of one thousand dollars ; the Secretary of State shall receive an 
annual salary of eight hundred dollars; the Commissioner of the 
Land Office shall receive an annual salary of eight hundred dollars ; 
the Attorney General shall receive an annual salary of eight hundred 
dollars. They shall receive no fees or perquisites whatever for the 
performance of any duties connected with their office. It shall not 
be competent for the Legislature to increase the salaries herein pro- 
vided. 

ARTICLE X. 

COUNTIES. 

Section i. Each organized county shall be a body corporate, with 
such powers and immunities as shall be established by law. All 
suits and proceedings by or against a county shall be in the name 
thereof. 

Sec. 2. No organized county shall ever be reduced by the organi- 
zation of new counties to less than sixteen townships, as surveyed 
by the United States, unless in pursuance of law a majority of elect- 
ors residing in each county to be affected thereby shall so decide. 
The Legislature may organize any city into a separate county when 
it has attained a population of twenty thousand inhabitants, without 
reference to geographical extent, when a majority of the electors of 
a county in which such city may be situated, voting thereon, shall be 
in favor of a separate organization. 

Sec. 3. In each organized county there shall be a sheriff, county 
clerk, a county treasurer, a register of deeds and a prosecuting 
attorney, chosen by the electors thereof, once in two years, and as 
often as vacancies shall happen, whose duties and powers shall be 
prescribed by law. The board of supervisors in any county may 
unite the offices of county clerk and register of deeds in one office, 
or disconnect the same. 

Sec. 4. The sheriff, county clerk, county treasurer, judge of pro- 
bate and register of deeds shall hold their offices at the county seat. 

Sec. 5. The sheriff shall hold no other office, and shall be inca- 
pable of holding the office of sheriff longer than four in any period 
of six years. He may be required by law to renew his security from 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 295 

time to time, and in default of giving such security his office shall 
be deemed vacant. The county shall never be responsible for his 
acts. 

Sec. 6. A board of supervisors, consisting of one from each 
organized township, shall be established in each county, with such 
powers as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 7. Cities shall have such representation in the board of 
supervisors of the counties in which they are situated as the Legis- 
lature may direct. 

Sec. 8. No county seat once established shall be removed until 
the place to which it is proposed to be removed shall be designated 
by two-thirds of the board of supervisors of the county and a major- 
ity of the electors voting thereon shall have voted in favor of the 
proposed location, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 9. The board of supervisors of any county may borrow or 
raise by tax one thousand dollars, for constructing or repairing pub- 
lic buildings, highways, or bridges ; but no greater sum shall be bor- 
rowed or raised by tax for such purpose in any one year, unless 
authorized by a majority of the electors of such county voting 
thereon. 

Sec. 10. The board of supervisors, or in the county of Wayne 
the board of county auditors, shall have the exclusive power to pre- 
scribe and fix the compensation for all services rendered for, and to 
adjust all claims against their respective counties; and the sum so 
fixed or defined shall be subject to no appeal. 

Sec. 11. The board of supervisors of each organized county may 
provide for laying out highways, constructing bridges, and organizing 
townships, under such restrictions and limitations as shall be pre- 
scribed by law. 

ARTICLE XL 

TOWNSHIPS. 

Section 1. There shall be elected annually, on the first Monday 
of April, in each organized township, one supervisor, one township 
clerk, who shall be ex-ofEcio school inspector, one commissioner of 
highways, one township treasurer, one school inspector, not exceed- 
ing four constables, and one overseer of highways for each highway 
district, whose powers and duties shall be prescribed by law. 



296 APPENDIX "B" 

Sec. 2. Each organized township shall be a body corporate, with 
such powers and immunities as shall be prescribed by law. All suits 
and proceedings by or against a township shall be in the name 
thereof. 

ARTICLE XII. 

IMPEACHMENTS AND REMOVALS FROM OFFICE. 

Section i. The House of Representatives shall have the sole 
power of impeaching civil officers for corrupt conduct in office, or 
for crimes and misdemeanors; but a majority of the members elected 
shall be necessary to direct an impeachment. 

Sec. 2. Every impeachment shall be tried by the Senate. When 
the Governor or Lieutenant Governor is tried, the Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court shall preside. When an impeachment is directed, 
the Senate shall take an oath or affirmation truly and impartially to 
try and determine the same according to the evidence. No person 
shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the mem- 
bers elected. Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend 
further than removal from office ; but the party convicted shall be 
liable to punishment according to law. 

Sec. 3. When an impeachment is directed, the House of Repre- 
sentatives shall elect from their own body three members, whose 
duty it shall be to prosecute such impeachment. No impeachment 
shall be tried until the final adjournment of the Legislature, when 
the Senate shall proceed to try the same. 

Sec. 4. No judicial officer shall exercise his office, after an im- 
peachment is directed, until he is acquitted. 

Sec. 5. The Governor may make a provisional appointment to 
fill a vacancy occasioned by the suspension of an officer, until he 
shall be acquitted, or until after the election and qualification of a 
successor. 

Sec. 6. For reasonable cause, which shall not be sufficient ground 
for the impeachment of a judge, the Governor shall remove him on 
a concurrent resolution of two-thirds of the members elected to each 
house of the Legislature ; but the cause for which such removal is 
required shall be stated at length in such resolution. 

Sec. 7. The Legislature shall provide by law for the removal of 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 297 

any officer elected by a county, township, or school district, in such 
manner and for such cause as to them shall seem just and proper. 

Sec. 8. The Governor shall have power and it shall be his duty, 
except at such times as the Legislature may be in session, to examine 
into the condition and administration of any public office, and the 
acts of any public officer, elective or appointed, to remove from office 
for gross neglect of duty, or for corrupt conduct in office, or any 
other misfeasance or malfeasance therein, either of the following 
State officers, to wit : The Attorney General, State Treasurer, Com- 
missioner of the Land Office, Secretary of State, Auditor General, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, or members of the State 
Board of Education, or any other officer of the State, except legis- 
lative and judicial, elective or appointed, and to appoint a successor 
for the remainder of their respective unexpired term of office, and 
report the causes of such removal to the Legislature at its next ses- 
sion. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

EDUCATION. 

Section i. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall have 
the general supervision of public instruction, and his duties shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 2. The proceeds from the sales of all lands that have been or 
hereafter may be granted by the United States to the State, for edu- 
cational purposes, and the proceeds of all lands or other property 
given by individuals, or appropriated by the State for like purposes, 
shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest and income of 
which, together with the rents of all such lands as may remain un- 
sold, shall be inviolably appropriated and annually applied to the 
specific objects of the original gift, grant, or appropriation. 

Sec. 3. All lands, the titles to which shall fail from a defect of 
heirs, shall escheat to the State; and the interest on the clear pro- 
ceeds from the sales thereof shall be appropriated exclusively to the 
support of primary schools. 

Sec 4. The Legislature shall, within five years from the adoption 
of this Constitution, provide for and establish a system of primary 
Schools, whereby a school shall be kept without charge for tuition, 
at least three months in each year, in every school district in the 



298 APPENDIX " B " 

State; and all instruction in said schools shall be conducted in the 
English language. 

Sec. 5. A school shall be maintained in each school district at 
least three months in each year. Any school district neglecting to 
maintain such school shall be deprived for the ensuing year of its 
proportion of the income of the Primary School Fund, and of all 
funds arising from taxes for the support of schools. 

Sec. 6. There shall be elected in the year eighteen hundred and 
sixty-three, at the time of the election of a Justice of the Supreme 
Court, eight Regents of the University, two of whom shall hold 
their office for two years, two for four years, two for six years and 
two for eight years. They shall enter upon the duties of their office 
on the first of January next succeeding their election. At every 
regular election of a Justice of the Supreme Court thereafter, there 
shall be elected two Regents, whose term of office shall be eight 
years. When a vacancy shall occur in the office of Regent, it shall 
be filled by appointment of the Governor. The Regents thus elected 
shall constitute the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. 

Sec. 7. The Regents of the University, and their successors in 
office, shall continue to constitute the body corporate known by the 
name and title of "The Regents of the University of Michigan." 

Sec. 8. The Regents of the University shall, at their first annual 
meeting, or as soon thereafter as may be, elect a President of the 
University, who shall be ex-ofUcio a member of their Board, with the 
privilege of speaking, but not of voting. He shall preside at the 
meeting of the Regents, and be the principal executive officer of the 
University. The Board of Regents shall have the general supervi- 
sion of the University, and the direction and control of all expendi- 
tures from the University Interest Fund. 

Sec 9. There shall be elected at the general election in the year 
one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two. three members of a State 
Board of Education, one for two years, one for four years, and one 
for six years ; and at each succeeding biennial election there shall 
be elected one member of such Board, who shall hold his office for 
six years. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be ex- 
ofUcio a member and Secretary of such Board. The Board shall 
have the general supervision of the State Normal School, and their 
duties shall be prescribed by law. 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 299 

Sec. io. Institutions for the benefit of those inhabitants who. are 
•deaf, dumb, blind, or insane, shall always be fostered and supported. 

Sec. ii. The Legislature shall encourage the promotion of intel- 
lectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement; and shall, as soon 
as practicable, provide for the establishment of an Agricultural 
School. The Legislature may appropriate the twenty-two sections 
of salt-spring lands now unappropriated, or the money arising from 
the sale of the same, where such lands have been already sold, and 
any land which may hereafter be granted or appropriated for such 
purpose, for the support and maintenance of such school, and may 
make the same a branch of the University, for instruction in agri- 
culture and the natural sciences connected therewith and place the 
same under the supervision of the Regents of the University. 

Sec. 12. The Legislature shall also provide for the establishment 
of at least one library in each township and city ; and all fines as- 
sessed and collected in the several counties and townships for any 
breach of the penal laws shall be exclusively applied to the support 
of such libraries, unless otherwise ordered by the township board of 
any township, or the board of education of any city : Provided, that 
in no case shall such fines be used for other than library or school 
purposes. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

FINANCE AND TAXATION. 

Section i. All specific State taxes, except those received from 
the mining companies of the Upper Peninsula, shall be applied in 
paying the interest upon the Primary School, University, and other 
educational funds, and the interest and principal of the State debt, in 
the order herein recited, until the extinguishment of the State debt, 
other than the amounts due to educational funds, when such specific 
taxes shall be added to and constitute a part of the Primary School 
Interest Fund. The Legislature shall provide for an annual tax, 
sufficient, with other resources, to pay the estimated expenses of the 
State government, the interest of the State debt, and such deficiency 
as may occur in the resources. 

Sec. 2. The Legislature shall provide by law a sinking fund of at 
least twenty thousand dollars a year, to commence in eighteen hun- 
dred and fifty-two, with compound interest at the rate of six per 



300 APPENDIX " B " 

cent, per annum, and an annual increase of at least five per cent., to 
be applied solely to the payment and extinguishment of the principal 
of the State debt, other than the amounts due to educational funds, 
and shall be continued until the extinguishment thereof. The un- 
funded debt shall not be funded or redeemed at a value exceeding 
that established by law in one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
eight. 

Sec. 3. The State may contract debts to meet deficits in revenue. 
Such debts shall not in the aggregate at any one time exceed fifty 
thousand dollars. The moneys so raised shall be applied to the pur- 
poses for which they were obtained, or to the payment of the debts 
so contracted. 

Sec. 4. The State may contract debts to repel invasion, suppress 
insurrection, or defend the State in time of war. The money arising 
from the contracting of such debts shall be applied to the purposes 
for which it was raised, or to repay such debts. 

Sec. 5. No money shall be paid out of the Treasury, except in 
pursuance of appropriations made by law. 

Sec. 6. The credit of the State shall not be granted to, or in aid 
of, any person, association, or corporation. 

Sec. 7. No scrip, certificate, or other evidence of State indebted- 
ness shall be issued, except for the redemption of stock previously 
issued, or for such debts as are expressly authorized in this Consti- 
tution. 

Sec. 8. The State shall not subscribe to, or be interested in, the 
stock of any company, association, or corporation. 

Sec. 9. The State shall not be a party to, or interested in, any 
work of internal improvement, nor engaged in carrying on any such 
work, except in the expenditure of grants to the State of land or 
other property : Provided, however, that the Legislature of the 
State by appropriate legislation may authorize the city of Grand 
Rapids to issue its bonds for the improvement of the navigation of 
Grand River. 

Sec. 10. The State may continue to collect all specific taxes accru- 
ing to the Treasury under existing laws. The Legislature may pro- 
vide for the collection of specific taxes from banking, railroad, plank 
road, and other corporations hereafter created. 

Sec. II. The Legislature shall provide an uniform rule of tax- 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 301 

ation, except on property paying specific taxes, and taxes shall be 
levied on such property as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec 12. All assessments hereafter authorized shall be on prop- 
erty at its cash value. 

Sec. 13. The Legislature shall provide for an equalization by a 
State Board, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, 
and every fifth year thereafter, of assessments on all taxable prop- 
erty, except that paying specific taxes. 

Sec. 14. Every law which imposes, continues, or revives a tax, 
shall distinctly state the tax, and the object to which it is to be ap- 
plied ; and it shall not be sufficient to refer to any other law to fix 
such tax or object. 

ARTICLE XV. 

CORPORATIONS. 

Section i. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but 
shall not be created by special act, except for municipal purposes. 
All laws passed pursuant to this section may be amended, altered, or 
repealed. But the Legislature may, by a vote of two-thirds of the 
members elected to each House, create a single bank, with branches. 

Sec 2. No general banking law shall have effect until the same 
shall, after its passage, be submitted to a vote of the electors of the 
State at a general election, and be approved by a majority of the 
votes cast thereon at such election. 

Sec 3. The officers and stockholders of every corporation or asso- 
ciation for banking purposes, issuing bank notes or paper credits, to 
circulate as money, shall be individually liable for all debts contract- 
ed during the term of their being officers or stockholders of such 
corporation or association, equally and ratably to the extent of their 
respective shares of stock in any such corporation or association. 

Sec 4. For all banks organized under general laws, the Legisla- 
ture shall provide for the registry of all bills or notes issued or put 
in circulation as money, and shall require security to the full amount 
of notes and bills so registered, in State or United States stocks, 
bearing interest, which shall be deposited with the State Treasurer 
for the redemption of such bills or notes, in specie. 

Sec 5. In case of the insolvency of any bank or banking associa- 



302 APPENDIX "B" 

tion, the bill-holders thereof shall be entitled to preference in pay- 
ment over all other creditors of such bank or association. 

Sec. 6. The Legislature shall pass no law authorizing or sanc- 
tioning the suspension of specie payments by any person, association, 
or corporation. 

Sec. 7. The stockholders of all corporations and joint stock asso- 
ciations shall be individually liable for all labor performed for such 
corporation or association. 

Sec. 8. The Legislature shall pass no law altering or amending 
any act of incorporation heretofore granted, without the assent of 
two-thirds of the members elected to each house; nor shall any 
such act be renewed or extended. This restriction shall not apply 
to municipal corporations. 

Sec. 9. The property of no person shall be taken by any corpo- 
ration for public use, without compensation being first made or 
secured, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 10. No corporation, except for municipal purposes, or for 
the construction of railroads, plank roads, and canals, shall be 
created for a longer time than thirty years ; but the Legislature 
may provide, by general laws applicable to any corporations for 
one or more extensions of the term of such corporations while 
such term is running, not exceeding thirty years for each extension, 
on the consent of not less than two-thirds majority of the capital 
of the corporation; and by like general laws for the corporate 
reorganization for a further period, not exceeding thirty years of 
such corporations whose terms have expired by limitation, on the 
consent of not less than four-fifths of the capital : Provided, that 
in cases of corporations where there is no capital stock, the Legis- 
lature may provide the manner in which such corporations may 
be reorganized. 

Sec. 11. The term "corporations," as used in the preceding sec- 
tion of this article, shall be construed to include all associations and 
joint stock companies having any of the powers or privileges of 
corporations, not possessed by individuals or partnerships. All cor- 
porations shall have the right to sue, and be subject to be sued 
in all courts, like cases as natural persons. 

Sec. 12. No corporation shall hold any real estate hereafter ac- 
quired, for a longer period than ten years, except such real estate 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 303 

as shall be actually occupied by such corporation in the exercise 
of its franchises. 

Sec. 13. The Legislature shall provide for the incorporation and 
organization of cities and villages, and shall restrict their powers 
of taxation, borrowing money, contracting debts and loaning their 
credit. 

Sec 14. Judicial officers of cities and villages shall be elected, 
and all officers shall be elected or appointed, at such time and in 
such manner as the Legislature may direct. 

Sec. 15. Private property shall not be taken for public improve- 
ments in cities and villages without the consent of the owner, 
unless the compensation therefor shall first be determined by a 
jury of freeholders, and actually paid or secured in the manner 
provided by law. 

Sec 16. Previous notice of any application for an alteration of 
the charter of any corporation shall be given in such manner as 
may be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE XVI. 

EXEMPTIONS. 

Section i. The personal property of every resident of this State, 
to consist of such property only as shall be designated by law. 
shall be exempted to the amount of not less than five hundred dol- 
lars, from sale on execution or other final process of any court, 
issued for the collection of any debt contracted after the adoption 
of this Constitution. 

Sec 2. Every homestead of not exceeding forty acres of land, 
and the dwelling-house thereon, and the appurtenances to be 
selected by the owner thereof, and not included in any town plat, 
city, or village ; or instead thereof, at the option of the owner, any 
lot in any city, village, or recorded town plat, or such parts of lots 
as shall be equal thereto, and the dwelling-house thereon, and its 
appurtenances, owned and occupied by any resident of the State, 
not exceeding in value fifteen hundred dollars, shall be exempt from 
forced sale on execution or any other final process from a court, 
for any debt contracted after the adoption of this Constitution. 
Such exemptions shall not extend to any mortgage thereon, law- 



304 APPENDIX "B" 

fully obtained; but such mortgage or other alienation of such land 
by the owner thereof, if a married man, shall not be valid without 
the signature of the wife to the same. 

Sec. 3. The homestead of a family, after the death of the owner 
thereof, shall be exempt from the payment of all his debts con- 
tracted after the adoption of this Constitution, in all cases, during 
the minority of his children. 

Sec. 4. If the owner of a homestead die, leaving a widow but no 
children the same shall be exempt, and the rents and profits thereof 
shall accrue to her benefit during the time of her widowhood, 
unless she be the owner of a homestead in her own right. 

Sec. 5. The real and personal estate of every female, acquired 
before marriage, and all property to which she may afterwards 
become entitled by gift, grant, inheritance, or devise, shall be and 
remain the estate and property of such female, and shall not be 
liable for the debts, obligations, or engagements of her husband, 
and may be devised or bequeathed by her as if she were unmarried. 

ARTICLE XVII. 

MILITIA. 

Section i. The militia shall be composed of all able-bodied male 
citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except 
such as are exempt by the laws of the United States or of this State ; 
but all such citizens, of any religious denomination whatever, who, 
from scruples of conscience, may be averse to bearing arms, shall 
be excused therefrom, upon such conditions as shall be prescribed 
by law. 

Sec 2. The Legislature shall provide by law for organizing, 
equipping, and disciplining the militia, in such manner as they 
shall deem expedient, not incompatible with the laws of the United 
States. 

Sec 3. Officers of the militia shall be elected or appointed, and 
be commissioned in such manner as may be provided by law. 

ARTICLE XVIII. 

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

Section 1. Members of the Legislature, and all officers, executive 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 305 

and judicial, except such officers as may by law be exempted, shall, 
before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, take and 
subscribe the following oath or affirmation : " I do solemnly swear 
(or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States 
and the Constitution of this State, and that I will faithfully dis- 
charge the duties of the office of according to the best of 

my ability." And no other oath, declaration, or test shall be re- 
quired as a qualification for any office or public trust. 

Sec. 2. When private property is taken for the use or benefit of 
the public the necessity for using such property, and the just com- 
pensation to be made therefor, except when to be made by the 
State, shall be ascertained by a jury of twelve freeholders, residing 
in the vicinity of such property, or by not less than three commis- 
sioners, appointed by a court of record, as shall be prescribed 
by law; Provided, the foregoing provision shall in no case be 
construed to apply to the action of commissioners of highways in 
the official discharge of their duty as highway' commissioners. 

Sec. 3. No mechanical trade shall hereafter he taught to con- 
victs in the State Prison of this State, except the manufacture of 
those articles of which the chief supply for home consumption 
is imported from other states or countries. 

Sec. 4. No navigable stream in this State shall be either abridged 
or dammed without authority from the board of supervisors of 
the proper county, under the provisions of law. No such law shall 
prejudice the right of individuals to the free navigation of such 
streams, or preclude the State from the further improvement of the 
navigation of such streams. 

Sec 5. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures 
of the public moneys shall be attached to and published with the 
laws at every regular session of the Legislature. 

Sec. 6. The laws, public records, and the written judicial and 
legislative proceedings of the State, shall be conducted, promulgated, 
and preserved in the English language. 

Sec. 7. Every person has a right to bear arms for the defense 
of himself and the State. 

Sec. 8. The military shall, in all cases and at all times, be in 
strict subordination to the civil power. 

Sec. 9. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any 



306 APPENDIX "B" 

house without the consent of the owner or occupant, nor in time 
of war except in a manner prescribed by law. 

Sec. 10. The people have the right peaceably to assemble to- 
gether to consult for the common good, to instruct their representa- 
tives, and to petition the Legislature for redress of grievances. 

Sec. ii. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for 
the punishment of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this State. 

Sec. 12. No lease or grant hereafter, of agricultural lands, for 
a longer period than twelve years, reserving any rent or service 
of any kind, shall be valid. 

Sec. 13. Aliens who are, or may hereafter become, bona fide 
residents of this State, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to 
the possession, enjoyment, and inheritance of property as native- 
born citizens. 

Sec. 14. The property of no person shall be taken for public 
use, without just compensation therefor. Private roads may be 
opened in the manner to be prescribed by law ; but in every case 
the necessity of the road and the amount of all damages to be 
sustained by the opening thereof, shall be first determined by a 
jury of freeholders; and such amount, together with the expenses 
of proceedings, shall be paid by the person or persons to be 
benefited. 

Sec. 15. No general revision of the laws shall hereafter be made. 
When a reprint therefore becomes necessary the Legislature, in 
joint convention, shall appoint a suitable person to collect together 
such acts and parts of acts as are in force and, without alteration, 
arrange them under appropriate heads and titles. The laws so 
arranged shall be submitted to two commissioners appointed by 
the Governor, for examination, and if certified by them to be a 
correct compilation of all general laws in force, shall be printed 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE XIX. 

UPPER PENINSULA. 

Section i. The counties of Mackinac, Chippewa, Delta, Mar- 
quette, Schoolcraft, Houghton, and Ontonagon, and the islands 
and territory thereunto attached, the islands of Lake Superior, 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 307 

Huron, and Michigan, and in Green Bay, and the Straits of 
Mackinac and the River Ste. Marie, shall constitute a separate 
judicial district, and be entitled to a district judge and district 
attorney. 

Sec. 2. The district judge shall be elected by the electors of such 
district, and shall perform the same duties and possess the same 
powers as a circuit judge in his circuit, and shall hold his office 
for the same period. 

Sec. 3. The district attorney shall be elected every two years 
by the electors of the district, shall perform the duties of prose- 
cuting attorney throughout the entire district, and may issue war- 
rants for the arrest of offenders in cases of felony, to be proceeded 
with as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 4. Such judicial district shall be entitled at all times to 
at least one senator, and, until entitled to more by its population, 
it shall have three members of the House of Representatives, to be 
apportioned among the several counties by the Legislature. 

Sec. 5. The Legislature may provide for the payment of the dis- 
trict judge a salary not exceeding one thousand dollars a year, 
and of the district attorney not exceeding seven hundred dollars a 
year; and may allow extra compensation to the members of the 
Legislature from such territory, not exceeding two dollars a day 
during any session* 

Sec. 6. That elections for all district or county officers, State 
Senators, or Representatives, within the boundaries defined in this 
article, shall take place on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday 
in November in the respective years in which they may be required ; 
the county canvass shall be held on the first Monday thereafter, 
and the district canvass on the third Monday of said November. 

Sec. 7. One-half of the taxes received into the Treasury from 
mining corporations in the Upper Peninsula, paying an annual 
State tax of one per cent., shall be paid to the treasurers of the 
counties from which it is received, to be applied for township and 
county purposes, as provided by law. The Legislature shall have 
power, after the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, to 
reduce the amount to be refunded. 



* Office of district judge abolished January i, 1864, and of district attorney, March 
5, 1865. 



308 APPENDIX "B" 

Sec. 8. The Legislature may change the location of the State 
Prison from Jackson to the Upper Peninsula. 

Sec. 9. The charters of the several mining corporations may be 
modified by the Legislature, in regard to the term limited for sub- 
scribing to stock, and in relation to the quantity of land which 
a corporation shall hold; but the capital shall not be increased, nor 
the time for the existence of charters extended. No such corpora- 
tion shall be permitted to purchase or hold any real estate, except 
such as shall be necessary for the exercise of its corporate 
franchises. 

ARTICLE XIX.— A. 

RAILROADS. 

Section i. The Legislature may, from time to time, pass laws 
establishing reasonable maximum rates of charges for the trans- 
portation of passengers and freight on different railroads in this 
State, and shall prohibit running contracts between such railroad 
companies whereby discrimination is made in favor of either 
of such companies as against other companies owning connecting 
or intersecting lines of railroad. 

Sec. 2. No railroad corporation shall consolidate its stock, prop- 
erty, or franchises with any other railroad corporation owning a 
parallel or competing line; and in no case shall any consolidation 
take place except upon public notice given of at least sixty days to 
all stockholders, in such manner as shall be provided by law. 

ARTICLE XX. 

AMENDMENT AND REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Section i. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution 
may be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives. If the 
same shall be agreed to by two-thirds of the members elected to 
each house, such amendment or amendments shall be entered on 
the journals respectively, with the yeas and nays taken thereon; 
and the same shall be submitted to the electors at the next spring 
or autumn election thereafter, as the Legislature shall direct, and 
if a majority of electors qualified to vote for members of the Legis- 



CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN 309 

lature, voting thereon, shall ratify and approve such amendment or 
amendments, the same shall become part of the Constitution. 

Sec. 2. At the general election to be held in the year one thou- 
sand eight hundred and sixty-six, and in each sixteenth year there- 
after, and also at such other times as the Legislature may by law 
provide, the question of the general revision of the Constitution 
shall be submitted to the electors qualified to vote for members of 
the Legislature; and in case a majority of the electors so qualified, 
voting at such election, shall decide in favor of a convention for 
such purpose, the Legislature, at the next session, shall provide by 
law for the election of such delegates to such convention. All the 
amendments shall take effect at the commencement of the year 
after their adoption. 



INDEX. 



Adams, J 80, 106 

Adj utant-General 84 

of Michigan 166 

Africa 8 

Agora 11 

Agriculture, Department of 78, 90 

Secretary of 86 

State Board of 163 

Agricultural College 231 

Alaska 87 

Albany Convention 38 

Alderman 203 

Alfred, King of England 182 

Ambassadors and Ministers 72 

Different classes of 72 

Amendments to Constitution of 

United States 102 

America, Central 14 

America, South 14 

Andrews, E. B 108 

Angles 136 

Anglo-Saxon 136, 177 

Annapolis 86 

Ann Arbor 152 

Annual Appropriation Bill 241 

Anti-Federalists 114 

Appointments by Governor 166 

by President 73 

by Mayor 207 

Appropriation Bills 241 

Army, The 85 

Arthur, C. A 51 

Articles of Confederation 42, 144 

Defects in 42 

Assemblies, Representative 18 

Assessment of Taxes 242 

Assessment Roll 243 

Assessor 237 

Assessors of Taxes 243 

Asia 8 

Attainder 254 

Attorney-General 79, 89 

of Michigan 162 

Auditor General 161 

Auditors, Board of State 162 

of Wayne County 180 

Australia 224 

Australian Ballot 221 



Ballot, form of 221 

Ballot Boxes 223 

Baltic Sea 12 

Bankruptcy, National Law of 63 

Banks, National 62 

Barons' War 20 

Bill of Attainder 261 

Bill of Rights 40 

Definition of 103 

Blackstone, Sir W 1 

Black Hawk's War 151 

Board of Agriculture, State 164 

Auditors of Wayne County. . .180 

Canvassers 163, 225 

Corrections and Charities 166 

Education, State 166 

Equalization 165 

Fish Commissioners ..165 

Health 164 

Military 167 

Pardons 165 

Public Works 211 

Regents of State University . .166 

Registration 217 

Review 243 

State Auditors 162 

Supervisors 179 

Boston 134 

Boston Port Bill 39 

Boston, Town of 33, 134 

Bouvier's Law Dictionary 182 

Bristol 139 

Bryce, J 94, 103 

Building Restrictions 206 

Bureau of Education 88 

Bureau of Geological Survey..... 88 

Burr, A 106 

Cabinet, The 78 

Cadillac 121 

Cahokia 125 

Canada 121 

Carpenter's Hall 40 

Carson, H 95 

Canvassers, Board of 225 

Cass, L 149 

Caucus 227 

Champlain 121 

Charles II., King of England 139 



(310) 



INDEX 



311 



Charter, Definition of 28 

Charter Colonies 32 

Chase, S. P 146 

Chief of Bureau of Statistics 84 

Chief of Engineers 85 

Chief Engineer 213 

Chief Signal Officer 85 

Chisholm v. State of Georgia 105 

Church Government in New Eng- 
land 129 

Circuit Courts of Michigan 171 

Circuit Court Commissioners 174 

Circuit Courts of U. S. 99 

Citizen: 

Definition 215 

Duties 255 

Rights and Duties 249 

Citizens and Voters 215 

City, Origin of Modern 200 

City Attorney 209, 210 

City Charters 201 

City Clerk 208 

City Council 203 

Powers of 203, 206 

City Government: 

Departments and Officers 211 

Executive Department 206, 207 

Fire Department 213 

Legislative Department 202 

Police Department 212 

Public Works 211 

City Marshall 210 

City Treasurer 208 

Civil Service Commission 91 

Civil Service Commissioners 81 

Civil Service Law, The 81 

Clan, The 3 

Clark, Geo. R 125 

Clerk: 

of City 208 

County 181 

Parish 136 

Township 192 

Clerks of Courts 175,176 

College of Mines 232 

Colonies: 

Charter 32 

Proprietary 33 

Royal 31 

Boundaries of Original 86 

Political Status of... 34 

Comitia 11 

Commander in Chief 70, 159 

Commerce : 

Regulation of 58 

Interstate 59 

Commissary General 85 

Commissioner of Banking Depart- 
ment 169 

Customs 83 

Dairy and Food 169 

Highways 193 

Indian Affairs 88 

Insurance 168 



Commissioner of 

Internal Revenue 84 

Labor 79, 169 

Land Office .__. .87, 161 

Navigation 84 

Patents 88 

Railroads 88, 167 

Committees, Political 116 

Comptroller of Currency 83 

City 209 

Concord 41 

Congress: 

Classification of Powers 66 

Express and Implied Powers 

of 113, 114 

Powers of 56, 68 

Connecticut 32, 33, 34, 120, 144, 145 

Conquest, by Virginia 125 

Constables 133, 195 

Constitution: 

Definition of 22 

Written 21 

of Michigan 153 

Constitution of United States 22 

Amendments to 102-109 

Elastic Clause 114 

Objections to adoption 45 

Construction and Repair, Bureau 

of 86 

Consuls 73 

Contagious Diseases 204, 213 

Convention, The Constitutional.... 45 
Conventions: 

National 116 

Nominating 116 

of 1835 151 

of 1836 152 

Copyrights 63 

Corporation, definition of 62, 190 

Corporation Counsel 210 

Coroner 185 

Council, Governor's 33 

City 202 

County: 

English origin 136-177 

Officers of English 136 

Origin of 177 

County in Michigan 178 

Constitutional provisions 178 

County in United States: 

Creation 177 

Corporate powers 178 

Government 179 

County Agent 186 

County Commissioner and School 

Examiner 233 

County Committees 116 

County Court of Virginia 141 

County Government of Michigan. .177 

County Officers 181 

County and Town Systems Con- 
trasted 142 

County Seat 179 

County Surveyor 185 



312 



INDEX 



County Taxes 242 

County Treasurer 183 

Courts: 

Federal 95 

Jurisdiction of 96 

State 170,174 

Courts of United States: 

Territorial 100 

of Claims 101 

Supreme ' 53 

Jurisdiction of 53 

Circuit 99 

Circuit of Appeals 99 

District 98 

Courts of Michigan: 

Circuit Courts 171 

Court of Mediation and Arbi- 
tration 174 

Justices of the Peace 174, 209 

Probate Courts 173 

Recorders' Court of Detroit. .173 
Superior Court of Grand 

Rapids 172 

Supreme Court 170 

Corrrections and Charities, Board 

of 166 

Crimes, Trial for 97 

"Critical Period of American His- 
tory, The" 44 

Cushing, C 90 

Custom House Duties 57 

Customs, Commissioner of 83 

Dairy and Food, Commissioner of. .169 
Declaration of Independence. . .26, 146 

Delaware 33, 34, 86, 128, 144 

Democratic Party 115 

Department: 

of Agriculture 78, 90 

Interior 78, 86 

Justice 78,89 

Labor 78, 91 

Navy 78, 85 

Public Works 211 

State 78, 81 

Treasury 78, 82 

War 78, 84 

Detroit 121, 151, 173 

Development, Governmental 5 

Director of Mint 84 

Director of School District 236 

Districts: 

Election 219 

Representative 155 

School 235 

Senate 155 

District Board 237 

District Court of U. S 98 

District of Columbia 67, 100 

District Meetings 235 

District Officers 236 

Dollar, Gold 60 

Drain Commissioner 186 

Duties 56, 255 

Dutton, F 224 



Ecclesia U 

Education, Boards of 238 

Education, Bureau of 88 

Education, Necessity of 229 

Educational System of Michigan, 

229, 238 

Constitutional provisions 230 

Origin 229 

Edward I., King of England 20 

Elbe 12 

Elections in Michigan 226 

of President 52 

Election Commissioners 220 

Election Districts 219 

Election Laws 215 

Electoral College 52 

Eminent Domain 246, 248 

Compensation 246 

Contrasted with taxation 247 

Taking property 246 

England 12, 121 

Engineers, Chief of 85 

Equalization, Board of 165 

Equipment and Recruiting, Bu- 
reau of 85 

Error, Writ of 171 

Essex, County of 136 

Evarts, W | 90 

Examiner of Claims 90 

Excise 56 

Executive Department 51, 69 

Branches of 78 

Difference in United States 

and Michigan 157 

of Cities 206-208 

Opinions of executive officers. 70 

Exemptions 241 

Ex Post Facto Laws 241 

Family, The 3 

Federalist, The 68 

Federalists 114 

Fence Viewers 133 

Fire Marshal 214 

Department 213 

First Continental Congress 39 

Fish Commission 91 

Fish Commissioners 165 

Fiske, J 45,103,143 

Florida 87 

Forbidden Legislation 156 

Forum 11 

France 14, 87, 121 

Franklin, B 38, 46, 47 

Freedom : 

Absolute 2 

Meaning in governmental 

sense 5 

of conscience 252 

of speech and press 252 

French and Indian War 122 

French Settlements 121 

Froude, J 48 

Fur Traders 121 

Geological Survey, Bureau of 88 



INDEX 



313 



Generals: 

Brigadier .*..»... 85 

Lieutenant 85 

Major 85 

General Assembly of Massachu- 
setts 135 

General Election Law of Michi- 
gan 215-228 

Genesis and Growth of Local 

Government 149 

Georgia 31, 105, 128 

Gladstone, W 47 

Gold: 

Certificates 61 

Coined 61 

Uncoined 61 

Government : 

Best form of 2 

Branches of 23 

Branches of federal 49 

Definition of 1 

Definition of popular 15 

Distinctive features of our. ... 17 
General powers of federal.... 24 

Limitations of state 25 

Necessity of 1 

Need of central 41 

of cities 198 

of villages 196, 197 

Origin of representative. . . .18, 119 

Outline of federal 40 

Territorial 65, 66 

Town and county system con- 
trasted 142 

Township and village 188, 197 

Tribal form of 8 

Government, Colonial 28 

Change to state 34 

Government, Municipal 25 

Government Printing Office 91 

Governor of Michigan 158 

Commander in Chief 159 

Powers and Duties 158 

Qualifications 158 

Veto • 159 

Governor-General of Canada 123 

Grants, Colonial 31 

Greece 11 

Green, J. R 19,30,104 

"Greenbacks" 62 

Guilds 200 

Habeas Corpus 171, 251 

Hamilton, A 46, 105, 112 

Health, Board of 164 

Department 213 

Henry III., King of England 119 

Henry, Patrick 125 

Highway Commissioners 193 

Holland 12 

Hosmer, S 134 

Illinois 150 

Impeachment 75 

Definition of 75, 76 

in Michigan 156 



Impeachment f 

Method of procedure 76 

Who liable to 75 

Incorporation of cities 201 

Indian Affairs, Commissioner of . . 88 

Indian, American 8 

Indiana 148, 150 

Indians 50 

Inspector-General 84, 167 

Inspectors of Elections 219 

Inspectors of Schools 234 

Instructions to Voters 222 

Insurance Commissioner of 168 

Interior: 

Department of 78, 86 

Secretary of 86 

Internal Revenue 57 

Commissioner of 84 

Interstate Commerce Commis- 
sion „_ 59, 91 

Jackson, A 80 

James II., King of England 104 

James River 139 

Jefferson, T. .80, 106, 113, 122, 139, 145 

Jesuit Missionaries 121 

Johns Hopkins University Studies 
in Historical and Political 

Science 150 

John, King of England 29 

Joliet 121 

Judge Advocate General 85 

Judges : 

Federal, tenure of office 98 

Michigan Supreme Court 170 

Circuit Court 171 

Probate 173 

of United States Supreme 

Court 98 

Judicial Circuits of Michigan 171 

Judicial Department: 

of Michigan 170 

of United States 53 

Judicial System, Federal 93-101 

Judiciary Act 98 

Jurisdiction Defined 170 

Jurisdiction of federal courts 96 

Justice, Department of 78, 89 

Justices of the Peace 174, 209 

Kaskaskia 125 

Kent County 155 

Labor : 

Department of 78, 91 

Commissioner of 79, 169 

Lansing 153, 171, 231 

Law, Definition of 1 

Laws, Ex Post Facto 241 

Lake Erie 148 

Lake Michigan 148 

Land Office: 

General 86 

Commissioner of 86, 161 

Legislature, Sessions of 156 

Legislative Department of Cities, 
202, 203 



314 



INDEX 



Lexington 41 

Libel 253 

Librarian of Congress 63, 91 

State 169 

Libraries 214 

Lieutenant Governor 160 

Lincoln, A 14 

Liquor License 205 

Lodge, H 113 

London 139 

Louisiana- 87, 120, 177 

Mackinac 121, 122 

Madison, J 45, 46, 68 

Magna Charta 29, 251 

Marine Corps 86 

Mandamus 171 

Marquette 121 

Marshall, Chief Justice 62 

Martin, G 31 

Mary, Princess of Orange 104 

Maryland 33, 34, 86 

Massachusetts 32, 33, 34, 120, 144 

Massachusetts Bill 39 

Mayflower, The 119 

Mayor, The 206 

McMaster, J 199 

Mediation and Arbitration, Court 

of 174 

Medicine and Surgery, Bureau of.. 86 

Messages, President's 74 

Mexico 87 

Michigan: 

Admitted to the Union 150 

Agricultural College 231 

Appointive Offices 166 

Becomes Part of the U. S 126 

Beginnings of Local Govern- 
ment in 149 

Campbell's Political History 

of 151 

College of Mines 232 

Cooky's History of 151 

County Government in 177 

Educational Institutions 231 

Educational System 229 

English Rule of 123 

Executive Department 157 

French Rule of 122 

Government of 153 

Governmental Changes 120 

Judicial Department 170 

Legislative Department 155 

Legislative Sessions 156 

Part of Indiana 148 

Population in 1834 151 

State Boards 162 

State Public School 232 

Territory of 149 

Township and Village Gov- 
ernment 188 

University of 231 

Middlesex, County of 136 

Moderator 236 

Mississippi 108 



Mississippi River 144 

Monarchy, Absolute 6 

Definition of 9 

Powers of ruler 6 

Monarchy, Constitutional: 

Definition of 12 

Money: 

Borrowing 58 

Coining 60 

Definition of 60 

Various kinds of 60 

Montfort, Simon de, Earl of 

Leicester 20, 119 

Morris, R. and G 46 

Morse, J 80, 106 

Municipal Corporations 190 

National Bank Notes 62 

National Committee 115 

National Republican Party 115 

Naturalization 64, 65 

Naval Academy 86 

Observatory 86 

Navigation, Bureau of 85 

Commissioner of 84 

Navy: 

Department 85 

Secretary of 85 

Negroes 107 

New England: 

Towns 128 

Town officers 131 

Settlement of 128 

New Hampshire 31, 86 

New Jersey 31, 86 

New York 31, 120, 144 

Norfolk 137 

North Carolina 31, 105 

"North Folk" 137 

North Sea 12 

Northwest Territory. .145, 146, 147, 148 

Norway 12 

Normal Schools 231 

Notaries Public 186 

Obedience to law . 255 

Officers, Public : 

Agents of people 21 

"Official Ballot" 221 

Ohio 150, 151 

Ohio River 125, 144, 146 

Oligarchy: 

Definition of 10 

Ordinance of 1787 126, 145, 146, 147 

Ordnance, Bureau of 86 

Organization of towns 188 

Origin of Modern City 200 

Overseers of Highways 194 

Pacific Ocean 8 

Pacific Railroad Companies 88 

Paper money 44 

Pardons: 

Board of 165 

Definition of 71 

Governor of Michigan 158 

Mayor 198 



INDEX 



315 



Pardons : 

President 71 

Parish, English 137 

Virginia 140 

Government of 140 

Parliament, The Model 20 

Parsons, T 90 

Party platform Ill, 117 

Patents and copyrights 63 

Definition of 63 

Patents, Commissioner of 88 

Payment of Taxes 256 

Penn, W 34 

Pensions 88 

Bureau of 88 

Commissioner of 88 

Pennsylvania 33, 34, 86, 112 

Personal Liberty 251 

Personal Security 250 

Peterman's Civil Government 224 

Philadelphia 45 

Pilgrim Fathers 119 

Pinckney, T 46, 106 

Pinckney, W 46, 90 

Plymouth 119 

Police Courts ...202 

Department 212 

Magistrates 206 

Political Committees 116 

Political Parties Ill 

Organization 115 

Origin Ill 

Politics, Definition of 110 

Politician 110 

Polling Place 223 

Posse Comitatus 183 

Postmaster-General 79, 89 

Postoffice Department 78, 89 

Potomac River 139 

Poundkeepers 133 

Precincts 219 

President of United States. 14, 51, 70,75 

Commander in Chief 70 

His appointments 73 

Messages 74 

Method of electing 52 

Method of counting votes.... 52 

Powers 73 

Responsibility 75 

Primaries 226 

Primary Election Law 227 

Probate Court 173 

Procedendo 171 

Property, Right of 250 

Proprietary Colonies 33 

Prosecuting Attorney 184 

Protection from unjust laws 253 

Provisions and Clothing, Bureau 

of 86 

Public Affairs, Participation in 257 

Public Lands 87, 161 

Public Libraries 214 

Public School Teachers 237 



Public Works: 

Department of 211 

Quartering Act 40 

Quartermaster-General 85 

of Michigan 1G6 

Quasi-municipal corporations 190 

Quebec Act 40, 124 

Quo Warranto 171 

Railroads, Commissioner of.... 88, 167 

Randolph, J 46 

Reconstruction Period 107 

Recorder's Court of Detroit 173 

Regents of State University 166 

Register of Deeds 183 

of Treasury 83 

Registration 217 219 

Board of 217 

Removals : 

By Impeachment 75 

By Mayor 207 

By President 80 

Representation : 

History of Government by. . . . 19 

Unit of 135, 140 

Representatives : 

House of 50 

of Michigan 155 

Reprieves 75 

Definition of 71 

Governor's 159 

President's 71 

Republic : 

Definition of 14 

Distinguished from all other 

governments 15 

Modern 13 

Origin of ancient 11 

Republican party 115 

Review, Board of 243 

Rhode Island 32, 33, 34, 86 

Right to hold office 255 

Rights and duties of citizens 249 

Robinson Crusoe 1 

Rome 11 

Roundheads .' 139 

Royal Colonies 31 

Russia 87 

Rutledge, J 46 

School Committee 132 

School Laws 230 

School Districts 235 

School Examiner 233 

Schools: 

Provision for support 229 

Sealers of Weights and Measures. 133 

Second Continental Congress 41 

Secretary: 

Agriculture 86 

Interior 86 

Navy 85 

State 81 

Treasury 82 

War 84 

State of Michigan 160 



316 



INDEX 



Selectmen 151 

Self-Support 257 

Senate, The 50 

of Michigan 155 

Senators of Michigan 155 

Sheriff 182 

Sheriffs: 

in Virginia 142 

Origin of Office 182 

Sherman, R 46 

Silver: 

Bullion 61 

Certificate 61 

Coin 61 

Six Nations 144 

Slander 252 

Solicitor of Internal Revenue 90 

Solicitor of Treasury 84, 90 

South Carolina 31 

"South Folk" 137 

Spain 87 

Speaker 50, 156 

St. Ignace 121 

St. Joseph 121 

State : 

Department of 78, 81 

Secretary 81 

Secretary of State of Michigan. 160 
State Boards: 

Agriculture 164 

Auditors 162 

Canvassers 163 

Corrections and Charities. .. .166 

Education 166 

Equalization 165 

Fish Commissioners 165 

Health 164 

Military 167 

Pardons 165 

Regents of State University. .166 

State Committee 116 

State Government: 

of Michigan 153 

Scope of 154 

State Public School 232 

Statistics, Chief of Bureau of 84 

Stamp Act Congress 38 

Stanton, E 90 

Steam Engineering, Bureau of.... 86 

Story, Justice. 35 

Street Commissioner 211 

Street Railroads 205 

Suffrage 254 

Suffolk 137 

Superior Court of Grand Rapids. . .172 
Superintendent : 

of Bureau of Printing and En- 
graving 84 

of Census . 88 

of Life-Saving Service 84 

of Public Instruction 232 

Supervising Architect 84 

Supervisor 192, 234 

Supervisors, Board of 179 



Supreme Court: 

of Michigan 170 

of United States 94 

Organization 97 

Surgeon-General 85 

Surveyors of Lumber 133 

Sweden 12 

Taking Part in Public Affairs 257 

Taney, R 90 

Tariff 57 

Tax, Definition of 56 

Tax Dodger 256 

Taxation 112 

Computing rate of 244 

Contrasted with eminent do- 
main 247 

Federal . 56 

Michigan constitutional provi- 
sions .240, 241 

Necessity of power in national 

government 43 

of colonies 38 

Taxation and Eminent Domain. . . .239 
Taxes: 

Assessment of 242 

Collection of 245 

Definition of 239, 240 

Delinquent 245 

Direct 58 

Indirect 57 

in Virginia 141 

Necessity for 239 

Objects for which levied 241 

State 247 

Teachers 237 

Tennessee 108 

Texas 108 

Thackeray, W 139 

Town and County System Con- 
trasted ..142 

Town Board 195 

Towns, Corporate powers 189 

Town Clerk 132-183-185, 234 

Town Officers 192 

Town Treasurer 132 

Town meeting: 

Influence of 127, 133 

of New England 123, 131 

Records of Boston 134 

Townshend Acts 38 

Township : 

Beginnings in Michigan 147 

of New England 130 

School Officers 234 

Treasurer 193 

Township Government: 

in Michigan 188 

Town Meeting 190 

Transportation Bill 39 

Treason, Definition of 54 

Treasurer: 

City 208 

County 183 

of Michigan 161 



INDEX 



317 



Treasurer : 

Township 193, 234 

United States 83 

Treasury, The 82 

Department of 78, 82 

of United States 82 

Officers of 82, 83, 84 

Secretary of 82 

Treasury Notes 61 

Treaties 71 

Approval of 71 

Definition of 71 

Mode of Negotiating 71 

Tribe, The 4 

Formation of 4 

Mode of Life 5 

Upper Peninsula 151 

Unit of Representation 135, 140 

University of Michigan 231 

Value, Standard of 60 

Venice 11 

Vestry Meeting 137 

Veto: 

Definition of 74 

Governor's 159 

President's 74 

Mayor's 207 

Villages : 

Officers 196 

Organization 196 

Village Trustees 197 

Virginia 31, 108, 120, 144 

Settlement of 137 

Social conditions 137-139 



Virginia : 

Taxation in 141 

Virginia Conquest 125 

Virginia County: 

Government of 141-142 

Old 136 

Unit of Representation 140 

Votes: 

Method of counting 224 

Official count 224 

Voters 215-216 

Voting Machines 228 

Voting under Australian system... 224 
War: 

Bureaus of department 84 

Department of 84 

Secretary of „ . . 84 

Wardens, Church 137 

Washington, D. C 50, 86, 98 

Washington, G 46, 106, 113, 199 

Weather Bureau 91 

Webster, D 146 

Weights and Measures: 

Sealers of 133 

Whig party 115 

Whisky Rebellion 112 

William, Prince of Orange 104 

Wilson, W 154-158 

Women : 

As school officers 238 

Power to vote at school elec- 
tions 238 

Yards and Docks, Bureau of 85 



Jum*-Q2. lOOl 



MAY. 22 1901 



